The Anatomy of a Cream Puff
by azuremiko
Summary: Meet Tomoyo. World class chef turned home ec teacher. Meet Kurogane. Surly gym teacher at Tsubasa Academy. See Tomoyo's recipe for cream puffs. Add flour, some cream, and Kurogane. Oh, yes. And a hell of a load of sugar. Kurogane could use the flavoring.
1. Bakers Dozen Times Three

Hellos! –grins– I've been wanting to write a kuroXtomoyo fic for so long but I've been juggling three other fics so I never got around to it... plus, I only have a vague idea as far as the direction of this fic is going so I'll just see how it goes.

Disclaimer: (first and last time you will ever see this) **tsubasa resevoir chronicle belongs to the masterminds of CLAMP** and unfortunately, that means I do not own it. And I don't own any commercial names or any junk of the sort that you may find at wal-mart or other retailers. (Ex. I mentioned windex. I don't own that, kays? Don't sue. Please) the only thing I own is the plot. Yay! I actually _own_ something!

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CHAPTER ONE: Baker's Dozen Times Three

"Kuro-piiiiiiii!" cried a voice, just as Kurogane's office door slammed open.

Kurogane gritted his teeth as he tried to resist yelling. He kept his eyes glued to the paper sitting on his desk.

A tall, thin man strode into the office, his white lab coat rustling behind him. The man had blond hair and piercing ice blue eyes– those which stared at the man hunched over his desk, who was obviously concentrating a _little_ too hard on the paper in front of him.

The blond man placed one hand on his hip and pouted.

"Kuro-tan, it's only the third day of school and you're _already _ignoring me?"

Kurogane didn't look up but was definitely starting to lose his cool. One hand was clenching a clump of his spiky black hair while his teeth were in danger of being ground into powder.

"Now, now, Kuro-chi– let's not be so antisocial, okay? And it's lunch break so let's go grab some food, okay? And can I pick? There's this place I've been wanting to go– is that okay? And–"

"Will you shut up, fool!" Kurogane roared, jumping up from his seat and nearly overturning his desk.

"Leeeeeet's goooooo!" Kurogane's "fool" of a friend cried, seeing an open opportunity. He linked arms with Kurogane and dragged him out the office door.

– – –

"Konnichiwa, Fai-sensei!"

"Florite-sensei! Which chapter did we have to read?"

"Fai!"

"Hmm?" Fai, followed by an extremely reluctant Kurogane, turned around. "Oh! Chi!"

"Here are the copies you asked for!" said the ivory haired girl. She handed the heavy stack of packets to Fai.

"Thank you, Chi. Have a good lunch!" Fai said cheerfully.

"I will!" Chi waved as she hurried down the hall.

After Fai stopped by his room to drop off the packets and shed his lab coat, he and Kurogane passed through the entrance of Tsubasa Academy. Students rushing out to lunch bid cheery hellos to the two teachers (which Kurogane merely replied with a grunt).

– – –

As Fai continued his cheerful chatter (as usual), he led the way to a quaint little place. The sign read _The Ginryuu Café_.

"This place just opened last week," Fai said as he pulled open the door. "It's gotten pretty good reviews."

Kurogane responded with a bored grunt. Food was food and lunch was lunch.

When Fai had pulled on the door, the bells that hung at the top corner of the door chimed lightly.

A pair of students donning Tsubasa Academy uniforms were at the cash register just paying for their lunch. As the two students headed to the door, they greeted the teachers formally.

"Freshmen," Fai chuckled as he approached the glass case. "Do you realize they seem to be smaller every year?"

"You're telling me," Kurogane muttered. "Can be a serious pain sometimes– especially during the basketball unit–"

"Ooooh! Kuro-bun! Looky here!"

"Will you _stop_ that!" Kurogane cried, irritated by the constant stream of pet names. Nonetheless, he turned his attention to the case.

"That looks so yummy!" Fai said, hands flat against the glass shield.

"Oi! I just cleaned that! Hands off!" said a new voice.

A tan girl appeared behind the counter, her arms folded across her chest. She had short black hair that was cut in an unusual style; the hair was cut shorter in the back and longer in the front– like a reversed angle cut.

"D'you know how much Windex costs these days?" she continued.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I was just admiring that muffin over there." Fai's smile widened (if that was even possible) and he removed his hands from the glass.

The girl merely stared at Fai and then shifted her gaze to Kurogane, who stared back with his blood-red eyes.

"What?" he asked with a clearly annoyed tone.

The girl's face indicated that _she_ was annoyed with Kurogane's tone but she made no remark of it.

"Give me a shout when you're ready to order," she said stiffly and then disappeared into the kitchen.

"Oooh! That looks good! And _that_ looks good! And _that_–"

"Hurry up and _order_ dammit!" Kurogane roared.

The tan girl came rushing back out, face alert. When she saw it was spiky haired guy causing the commotion, her face slumped back into boredom.

"You ready to order?" she asked Fai.

"Sure am! I'll take this and that– and oh that looks great! Two– no! Three of those, please!"

As the girl boxed Fai's order, Fai leaned against the counter staring at Kurogane.

"_What_?" Kurogane asked, irked by Fai's stare.

Fai tapped a finger to his chin as he scrunched his nose and his face into a very thoughtful look.

"I was trying to remember... ah! D'you remember Arashi-san?"

"Kishu?" Kurogane's brow furrowed. "That home ec teacher?"

Fai snapped his fingers as his face brightened.

"Yes! Remember she made those delicious fried sushi rolls–"

"Your point?" Kurogane interrupted, bored look on his face.

"And Sora-chan! Remember him?"

"Arisugawa? How could I forget him?" Kurogane continued in his bored voice. "I've only worked with him for the last two years and I just saw him in the staff room yesterday."

"Exactly!" Fai clapped his hands together. "Rumor is that those two eloped!"

"Huh?"

"Eloped! C'mon, Kuro-chan! Don't you know what 'elope' means?"

"I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS!"

"And now they're looking for a new home economics _and_ history teacher!"

"What a pain," Kurogane said as he scratched the back of his head. "That means we'll hafta get used to _more _newbies..."

"You know you like to make new friends!" Fai said.

"That'll be forty-four dollars," interrupted the tan girl.

"Kuro-chan! I think I left my wallet in the lab– can you pay for me?"

"ARE YOU INSANE!"

"Thankies! I'll see you after school!" Fai grabbed his three boxes filled with pastries and pranced out the door.

Kurogane and the cashier stared at Fai's back and the café fell quiet except for the jingle of the doorbell.

"Well..." the girl started.

Kurogane glared at her.

"I want coffee. Black. No sugar. _Now_."

– – –

As Kurogane left the café, cranky over having to pick up Fai's tab _again_, the cashier sighed and looked around. She smiled inwardly, happy that business had been going better than expected.

"Souma?" called a voice from the kitchen.

"Yeah?" the tan girl called back.

"Can you help me with this new batch of muffins?"

"Sure thing," Souma said, heading to the kitchen.

Before Souma could enter the kitchen, a large basket of assorted muffins blocked her entry, along with a girl balancing two other baskets in her arms.

Souma grabbed the basket closest to her.

"Thanks," sighed the other girl. "Who would've thought muffins would weigh so much!"

Souma smiled at her friend and nodded.

Tomoyo brushed off her hands on her apron when she set the muffins on the counter. A cloud of flour arose into the warm air. Sweeping back her long, dark purple hair (and trying to rid the flour that stained the ends), Tomoyo asked, "What was all that shouting earlier?"

Rolling her eyes, Souma started to arrange the muffins behind the glass. "Just some weird pair of friends– oh! Get this! I overheard them talking–"

"Who couldn't?" Tomoyo laughed.

"Yeah, really," Souma agreed, again rolling her eyes. "But they were talking about some of their fellow teachers–"

"They were _teachers_?" Tomoyo's bright lavender eyes widened. "Pretty loud to be teaching–"

"Will you let me finish? And they said something about the school looking for a new home ec teacher!"

Tomoyo grabbed the third basket and also arranged the muffins.

"Is that so?" she asked in an air of mild interest.

"C'mon, Tomoyo! I know you want to do it! What could be better? You love to cook, bake, sew– and this job has got it all!"

"Hmm..." Tomoyo replied in the same airy voice.

"I mean, you'll probably hafta put up with that jerk of a teacher and his happy-go-lucky friend but hey! The sacrifices we all make!"

"Hmm..."

"Tomoyo? Are you listening?" Souma placed her hands on her hips.

Finally, emptying her basket, Tomoyo looked up. "I don't know, Souma. After all, we just opened the café..."

"Aw, don't worry!" Souma said cheerfully. She slapped her friend on the back, making another cloud of flour puff into the air. "Besides, it's not like you have to stop working here! Besides, I can manage!"

Tomoyo didn't answer but only smiled at her friend.

After a moment, before reentering the kitchen, she murmured, "We'll see. We'll see."

And back at Tsubasa Academy in Kurogane's office...

A muffin sat on Kurogane's desk with a note propped up next to it.

On it, written in neat handwriting was–

_For Kuro-pi_

Kurogane stood above his desk, his hand shaking so violently that his coffee was in danger of sloping over his desk.

"Damn him..." he muttered, drawing out his words.

It was going to be another long school year.

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_ginryuu_: silver dragon (remember kurogane's sword?)

welp, tha's all I gotta say for now! All I ask is for your suggestions or comments! Thankies much!

And just in case you forgot...

Sorata/Sora Arisugawa and Arashi Kishu are both characters from X (X/1999) and were in Tsubasa 1 and 2 (and a bit of 3 –smiles–). (Don't you love them as a couple! –squeaks– I'm so glad they were able to be together in tsubasa!)


	2. Spare Muffin

**I'M HOME!**

oh yeah... I guess I dint mention in this fic but I was away for the last three weeks on a trip to taiwan –smiles– but now I'm home and ready to write! (may I also mention that I've read all the way up to book 10 in tsubasa? –wide grin–)

my thanks to **ToMoYo129**, **AutumnIllusion**, **asga**, **silver soulless**, **PeachPonta**, **Mew Peach**, **Charter Mage Z**, and **ice illuser** – thanks for your comments! Remember to add suggestions (if any) or anything I can use to improve my writing! Thankies!

Oh yeah– I've just registered onto deviantART (something that I've had on my today list for the longest time... –rolls eyes–). I don't really have anything up right now but if any of you read **Mask of Lies**, I think I may (may/might/possibly) be putting up some stuff from that. And my random junk as always... (as always...very much like the junk that I write...) So I dunno how things work on that but my username's :**gsnapcookie**. Feel free to drop a hello! –smiles– I always like chatting with people!

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CHAPTER TWO: Spare Muffin

Tomoyo wrung her hands nervously in her lap. On the outside, she retained a calm composure and gave a small smile every time the silver-grey haired man glanced at her over the edge of his glasses.

"You worked as head pastry chef at _Mokona's_?" the man asked, this time not taking his eyes off Tomoyo's resume.

"Yes," Tomoyo answered with confidence, "I worked there for three years."

This time, the man looked at her.

"That means you must've been hired right when you left the culinary institute."

Tomoyo's pale cheeks flushed with a slight tint of pink.

"Actually, I graduated a year early..." she said modestly but with a shy smile.

"And top among your fellow chefs!"

Tomoyo's cheeks flushed ever more. She merely gave a small nod.

"And now it says here that you've opened your own bakery–"

"Café, actually," Tomoyo blurted out. "I'm sorry– I just like it being referred to as a café, that's all."

The man nodded and adjusted his glasses. "You've recently opened a café here in our town."

Tomoyo again nodded. The man set down her resume and smiled and Tomoyo.

"I've read some great reviews about _The Ginryuu_, Daidouji-san."

Tomoyo gave a modest laugh but her twinkling eyes couldn't mask the joy she felt.

"Is that so, Tsukishiro-san?" she asked through her laugh.

"That _is_ so– and please call me Yukito," he replied. "And now you're aspiring to be a teacher?"

"That's why I'm here!" Tomoyo laughed cheerfully.

Yukito shared her laugh. "It's a bit soon, isn't it? After all, you _just_ opened the café..."

"Well, the opportunity presented itself!"

"Hmm... rumors spread pretty quickly..." Yukito murmured, referring to the elopement of the two teachers. "But didn't you say 'a few years down the road', Daidouji-san?"

Mentally, Tomoyo tsk-ed. _'Dammit... looks like Mom made sure that TV interview got nationwide...' _Nonetheless, she smiled. "Like I said, if the opportunity is there, I'll take it!"

Yukito adjusted his glasses again. "Well..." he started as he stood..

Tomoyo followed suit and stood straight.

"You're hired!"

Tomoyo's jaw nearly dropped.

"Excuse me?" she managed to squeak.

"You're hired!" Yukito repeated with a smile.

"But what about the other applicants!"

"You're the first! And we need a replacement ASAP."

"Is it–"

"No, Daidouji-san, it is _not_ because you are a world famous pastry chef. And it is _not _because you have a beautiful world renown face. It _is_ because you are eligible and this is that."

Tomoyo could tell Yukito was poking friendly fun at her and she smiled.

"How soon can you start?"

Tomoyo blinked. "Um... anytime, I guess."

"Great! You can start now."

"Eh!"

"Your first class starts in an hour. (That's second period on our four period block schedule, by the way.) Feel free to go home and change into more comfortable clothes and go over the rules and regulations."

"Um..."

"Welcome to Tsubasa Academy, Daidouji-sensei. I know it'll be great having you here." Yukito offered his hand, which Tomoyo shook, still slightly shocked at the rush of things.

In a split second, Tomoyo was handed a thick packet labeled 'Teacher's Manual' and found herself standing outside the vice principal's office.

"...wow."

– – –

"Souma! I got the job!" Tomoyo cried as she raced down the street in her silver Jetta.

"Kyaaaaaaaaa!" Souma screamed, nearly causing Tomoyo to drop her phone and swerve into innocent pedestrians. "Congratulations, Tomoyo! When d'you start!"

"In an hour."

"_WHAT_!"

Lucky for Tomoyo (and everyone within a hundred foot radius of her), she was one hell of a good driver.

"Souma, _please_! I'm driving here!"

"Oh. Sorry," came Souma's meek voice.

(Tomoyo could totally see Souma cringing in a corner.) "No worries. Anyways, I just wanted to make sure– is this all okay with you?" Tomoyo asked, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"Now I'll be running the café all alone!" came Souma's sobbing reply.

SCREEEEEEECH!

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Tomoyo cried, tears springing to her eyes. "I'll go back and tell them I don't want the job!"

"Aaaah! Tomoyo! I was just joking!" Souma cried back. "...seriously, I bet you just burned off all the traction on your tires..."

Tomoyo didn't bother to glance at the rising smoke surrounding her car. (Though she made a mental note to visit her local tire dealer.) She rounded the corner and skillfully parallel parked her car in front of _The Ginryuu_.

Racing up the narrow staircase that was squeezed between _The Ginryuu_ and the store next door, Tomoyo was already stripping off her pinstriped jacket. Once inside her apartment, she kicked off her heels and tossed the large manual onto her couch.

A couple seconds later, Tomoyo rushed back out from her room, grabbed the manual and flipped frantically through it. Before she found what she was looking for, her eyebrows went up.

"...huh... interesting..."

– – –

"This smells familiar!" came a sing-song, happy-go-lucky voice.

Tomoyo looked up from her teacher's manual as Fai poked his head into the home economics kitchen room.

"Aaah! You must be the new home ec teacher!" Fai said with a smile. He walked in and sniffed the air again. "I know this smell... ah ha! Muffins! And not just any muffins! These muffins smell just like the ones from _The Ginryuu_!"

Tomoyo smiled at Fai and got off her stool.

"I get it," Fai said, his smile widening. "You must be Tomoyo-chan, right?"

Tomoyo's couldn't help but also widen her smile and she gave a nod. "And you are?"

"Fai D. Florite," Fai extended his hand. "Science department."

"Nice to meet you, Florite-sensei," Tomoyo said, shaking Fai's hand.

"No no no! Just call me Fai, okay?" Fai laughed, flapping his free hand. "No formality between friends!"

Tomoyo's eyes crinkled as she smiled again. "Okay!"

"Now!" Fai exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. "Is there any way you could spare me a muffin, Tomoyo-chan?"

Laughing, Tomoyo shook her head. "They're not done yet. And I'll have to see if I have extras; they're for my first class, y'know."

"Oooooooh. In that case, after your class is done, and there so happens to be leftovers, could you possibly come by the teacher's lounge? We could go out for lunch and I could show you around the academy," Fai suggested.

Another smile spread across Tomoyo's face. "I'd like that."

"I'll have to see if Kuro-chan would want to come along," Fai murmured to himself, tapping his chin. "Nice to meet you, Tomoyo-chan! Ja!"

As Tomoyo waved, Fai pranced out the kitchen and in the hall, Tomoyo could hear him cry, "Kuro-pooooooon!"

And in reply, there was an annoyed, "_What?_"

Smiling to herself, Tomoyo went to the ovens to check on her apple cinnamon muffins. She felt a familiar warmth spread through her heart as she felt glad that someone had not merely befriended her for her fame.

– – –

Sweeping off her apron, Tomoyo hummed a cheerful tune as she tidied up the room. Her first class had been a success and the students actually seemed to be interested in the course, not only taking the class for an easy grade.

Looking up at the clock, Tomoyo saw that an hour of lunch was the perfect amount of time. She took at her hair tie that held her hair in a loose ponytail and her long hair cascaded down her back.

Locking up the room, Tomoyo took a turn down the hall. After cruising around for ten minutes, she realized a very, very important thing.

She had no idea where the teacher's lounge was.

Even worse, the halls seemed to be completely empty and it only took her a moment to realize that she hadn't passed anyone, teacher nor student, since leaving the home ec room.

'_Why does this always happen to me?'_ Tomoyo thought grudgingly. She felt like she was being reminded of her first day at culinary school.

As Tomoyo turned at another corner, her face lit up as she saw someone. The hall seemed to be very long and the person was already half way down so Tomoyo went at a slight jog.

"Excuse me!" she called as she neared the person.

The person stopped and merely tilted his head back to look at Tomoyo.

"I was wondering if you knew–"

"If you're looking for the uniform fitting room, it's that way," the man interrupted. He pointed back down the hall that Tomoyo had just taken a jog down.

Without another word, he continued down as if he hadn't been stopped.

Tomoyo stood with her jaw dropped.

'_He... he thought I was a student!' _She looked down at herself. _'Am I _that_ short!' _

Okay, so maybe Tomoyo barely came up to the guy's chin but nonetheless, Tomoyo had never considered herself short for an average woman in her twenties.

Wearing an annoyed face and slightly biting her lip, Tomoyo spun on her heel and went back the way she came, mumbling about jerks who just happened to be a few inches... erm... over a head taller than most people.

– – –

"I wonder where Tomoyo-chan is..." Fai said, a finger on his chin.

Kurogane didn't answer; he was leaning against the wall with his arms folded and feeling impatient that they had to wait for someone else. Though he wasn't about to admit it, his stomach had been growling all through his class and was in need for something to chow down on.

SLAM!

"Oh there she is!" Fai said, face lighting up.

The open door (or door that had been permanently embedded into the wall) revealed a very disgruntled looking Tomoyo.

"Gomen, Fai. I couldn't find the–"

Tomoyo stopped. As a pair of lavender eyes locked with a pair of red–

"That _kid_ is a _teacher_!"

The pair of lavender eyes narrowed. "_What _kid?" she asked in a slow and quiet voice.

Fai clapped his hands. "Now, now, since it seems that you two have already met..." Fai grabbed each of their hands and merrily pranced out the door, dragging the two behind. "It's time for lunch!"

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hope that was alright– as usual, that dint turn out the way I wanted but I read it over and over and somehow, it stayed this way. So kurogane and tomoyo met! Yaaaay! See you next time!


	3. Unexpected Staring Contest

hello hellos! Unfortunately, my mind has schemed up yet **ANOTHER **kuroXtomoyo fic– but there's no way I'm posting that yet– I'm still working on 4 fics at the moment... so I'm thinking that once I've finished Smudged Love and get at least to chappi 6 on this, _then_ I'll post it! _Maybe _I'll give you an inside look in chappi 4 or something –grins– keep an eye out for it!

Thanks to all that even bother to read and those who bother to review– you guys are great! Thanks for keeping me motivated! I wanted to reply to all of you... but I received an email that we weren't allowed to reply to reviews –frowns– I'll check into that...

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CHAPTER THREE: Unexpected Staring Contest

People who walked by glanced at the trio with raised eyebrows. Fai was in the center of the three, his arm linked around Tomoyo's and on his other side, was Kurogane, who was getting dragged along by the hood of his black 'Tsubasa Academy Gym Department' sweatshirt.

Fai chirped cheerfully (as usual) to Tomoyo and Tomoyo responded back just as happily. It seemed that both simply acted like Kurogane wasn't there but the grip that Fai's hand had on Kurogane's hood was quite strong and continued to drag along the unwilling Kurogane down the street.

"There's something about those muffins you make, Tomoyo-chan," Fai said thoughtfully. "I don't know what it is– can I have your secret?"

Smiling playfully, Tomoyo responded, "Like a magician, a chef can never reveal her secrets! But I put a lot of love into my baking..."

"Aaaah! Love is the essential factor in anything!" Fai cried, as if his recipe were suddenly complete. Craning his head to look at Kurogane, Fai smiled his regular loopy smile. "Isn't that right, Kuro-pipi?"

With his arms folded, Kurogane merely scoffed and managed to yank his hood out of Fai's grip.

"I don't suppose you don't want to eat at your own café, do you?" Fai asked as he stopped in front of _The Ginryuu_.

Tomoyo shook her head anxiously. "It's almost like a taboo to eat at your own restaurant or café!"

"Is it?" Fai asked curiously. He tilted his head thoughtfully. "I've never heard of that."

Tomoyo wasn't about to admit that she would feel awkward sitting in her own café. She couldn't explain why but the thought of it almost made her cringe.

"Wait up, Kuro-myuu!" Fai called, waving his arm.

Kurogane was ahead of the two, sulking his way up the street. "Can we just hurry up and get some food?" he asked, tilting his head back to look at the two.

"Oh Kuro-sama! You're so impatient!" Fai giggled.

Fai and Tomoyo, still linked arm in arm, quickened their pace to fall behind Kurogane, who still had his arms folded and looked like he would much rather be sitting in his office and taking a nap.

"Have you known Kurogane-san for long, Fai?" Tomoyo asked, looking up at Fai. (To her shock, she realized she barely came to the tip of his nose. _'I _am_ short!'_) "You seem to be... erm... very close."

Fai dramatically clutched at his heart. "Oh dear– _Kurogane-san_? My my, you're quite the formal one!"

Tomoyo couldn't help but laugh; she remembered how Fai had reacted to 'Florite-sensei' just a few hours ago.

"I met Kuro-pon ("Will you _stop_ calling me those damn names!") when we started as student teachers at the Academy." Again, looking thoughtful, Fai paused. "I think that was about two or so years ago. Maybe a little longer."

Stopping, Tomoyo stood agape, staring at Fai.

"Hmm? Is there something on my face, Tomoyo-chan?"

"No, it's just– you're very young to be teachers!"

Smiling a big wide smile, Fai said, "You are too, Tomoyo-chan! I imagine you're only a few years younger than me. Though it's hard to tell with that pretty face of yours... I feel like an old grandpa standing next to you."

Again, Tomoyo shook her head, this time furiously. "Oh no! You look extremely young! ...so how old _are _you?"

The two continued their stroll as they could feel Kurogane's annoyed stare boring into their faces.

Pointing to himself, Fai said, "I'm twenty-three!."

"So you got this teaching job right out of college?" Tomoyo asked, eyes wide.

"Yep! Both me and Kuro-ro! Weird twist of fate, huh? Now since I decided to divulge a vital piece of information about myself, it's your turn!"

Hesitating before she answered, Tomoyo said, "I'm twenty- two."

"Wheet whoo. ("When are you gonna learn how to whistle?" Kurogane asked with a twitch of his eye.) You _are _young! But I should've known!"

Mentally, Tomoyo was running around in circles. _'Uwaaah! "Known" what? Did he think I was younger? Do I really look _that_ much like a kid! Gaaaah! I _am _short!'_

"Don't worry Tomoyo-chan, you're quite tall for a woman of your age," Fai reassured, somehow being able to see her mental expression. "You're just surrounded by people that are taller, that's all."

Of course, it never really dawned on Tomoyo that she _had _been surrounded by people taller than her. Plus, she knew that Souma was tall enough to rival Kurogane, but she never noticed nor thought about it too much. Tomoyo felt an instant spot of annoyance towards Kurogane; ever since his remark about her being a 'kid', she felt even more paranoid towards her height.

"Will you just pick a place?" came Kurogane's annoyed drawl. "We're wasting time."

After finally picking a place due to Kurogane's impatience, the three walked into a Japanese style café and as Fai offered to order and pick up the tab, that left Tomoyo and Kurogane alone.

"Um... where d'you wanna sit?" Tomoyo forced herself to ask after a moment of silence.

"I don't care. Anywhere is fine," Kurogane grunted.

Wearing a slightly annoyed pout, Tomoyo suggested the patio outside. Kurogane shrugged and walked away.

Determined not to let Mister I-don't-give-a-damn-and-have-a-stupid-attitude get to her, Tomoyo merely followed and plopped down into the seat opposite of Kurogane.

Kurogane slumped in his chair (allowing his long legs to stretch), and his arms were folded (as usual), and blood-red eyes glancing off to the side.

Tomoyo stared at him.

Kurogane continued to look off to the side.

Tomoyo still stared at him.

Kurogane _still_ looked to the side.

Tomoyo still stared.

In fact, she had no idea exactly _why_ she was staring so hard. Something inside was stirring in her; was she looking for something? Like a point to make that he was a complete jerk for looking down on Tomoyo? Or that he was just too tall?

Finally, Kurogane shifted his gaze to the front to meet Tomoyo's eyes. He stared at her and she stared back.

To Tomoyo's surprise, Kurogane didn't look away with a scoff or anything of the like.

And to Kurogane's surprise, Tomoyo didn't look away. Period.

So the two sat there for a minute or so, staring at each other. Kurogane sweatdropped. _'Is there something wrong with this kid?'_

Finally, Kurogane opened his mouth to speak. "Did you– "

"Yes, I found the fitting room, thank you," came Tomoyo's slightly cold reply.

For a split second, Kurogane's eyebrows went up from surprise. He was about to ask "did you need something?" whilst Tomoyo expected him to say "did you find the uniform fitting room?".

Nonetheless, the two went back at staring at each other, as if they were in a challenge. Mentally, Tomoyo found this quite amusing and was close to cracking up.

"Um... hello?"

The eye contact broke as the two looked up to see Fai wearing his usual grin but a slight furrow on his forehead that clearly meant "um... just what were you two doing?". He was holding a try full of sushi and sashimi.

"I see you two were getting to know each other," Fai said cheerfully as he handed a pair of chopsticks to Tomoyo. (He took a fork for himself.)

"Yes... we were, weren't we..." Tomoyo's face cracked a mischievous grin. She decided that while she was teaching, she might as well have some fun on the side. "Kuro-chan?"

"NOT YOU TOO!" Kurogane wailed

"Oh! And one more thing, Kuro-rin, I think I forgot my wallet again– can you cover for us?"

"NOT AGAIN! DAMN YOU TO HELL YOU–"

Fai handed the bill to Kurogane which had a nice even fifty dollars circled at the bottom.

"DAMMIT!" Kurogane roared as he stomped back into the café, pulling out his wallet.

Sporting a grin, Fai speared a cucumber roll while Tomoyo found herself smiling as she watched Kurogane's back.

Oooh, yes. This was going to be one long and eventful year.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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	4. The Plus of Being Female

Waaaai! I love all of you! Thankies to those who reviewed and those who even bother to read this! Thankies thankies thankies!

Oh yeah– I guess I promised an "inside look" to my upcoming kuroXtomoyo fic, huh? Welp, I'll just give you the summary that I plan to post with it:

**Agent Tomoyo is a new recruit at The Mokona Agency and to Kurogane's disgust, he and the newbie are thrown into the field together quite often. As time goes, Kurogane learns many things about Tomoyo...especially something that she may not want anyone to know.**

please please _please_ lemme know if you think this summary sounds interesting– I'd love to know! (I always wonder if my summaries are interesting in the least, or, just plain boring... how I get people to read my fics, I have no idea...) I changed my summary for this fic, due to suggestion by mysticdawn5– hope it's better! It's not much but maybe it gives more of a look into my story! Lemme know what you think!

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CHAPTER FOUR: The Plus of Being Female

Kurogane groaned as he rolled to his side. He stuffed his head under his pillow and held it down with his hands. He swore if the neighbors downstairs could turn up their TV any louder...

"THE DRAGONFLY RACE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY PIFFLE PRINCESS–"

'_Wait...'_ Kurogane sat up, blinking furiously as his eyes worked to adjust to the morning sun that was pouring through the curtains.

'_You have _got _to be kidding me...'_

Seconds later...

"WHAT THE _HELL _ARE YOU DOING!" Kurogane roared, stomping into the living room, and working to pull on a t-shirt at the same time.

"Gooood morning, Kuro-myuu!" Fai said cheerfully, holding up a hand in greeting. He was sitting comfortably on Kurogane's couch in front of a blaring TV–

"WILL YOU TURN THE DAMN THING OFF!"

Covering his ears, Fai whined, "Kuro-sama is soo loud..." But nonetheless, Fai turned down the volume just as the announcer cried, "And Wing Egg takes the lead!"

"What the hell are you doing in _my _apartment?" seethed Kurogane, glaring at Fai. "And how in all hells did you get in?"

"It's not that hard, Kuro-chan," came a new voice; the melodious voice wandered over from the kitchen. "You left the spare key under your mat outside."

"You!" Kurogane roared, pointing an accusing finger at Tomoyo. (He wasn't even really sure why he was pointing.)

"You look like you could use some breakfast, Kuro-chin," Fai said, getting up for the couch. "Tomoyo-chan was so kind to start rummaging through your very desolate refrigerator and whip up something for you."

Kurogane scowled and wasn't about to admit that indeed, a very appetizing smell was wafting into the living room. From what he could see, Tomoyo was happily folding what seemed to be an omelette and donning a white apron with a little pink heart on the front (that he swore could _not_ have been from _his_ kitchen) .

Still scowling, Kurogane strode to the kitchen to make himself a pot of coffee. Not really to his surprise, a pot was already made.

"Pour me a cup too, Kuro-woof woof!" Fai waved, sitting himself at the small dining table.

Grumbling, resisting to chuck a mug at Fai's head, Kurogane slammed down two mugs and sloshed coffee into them.

Meanwhile, Tomoyo was humming to herself as Fai chatted animatedly to Kurogane. Kurogane merely grunted and he slid Fai's coffee across the kitchen counter.

"Kuro-pon!" Fai whined. "You forgot to add sugar and cream! Not everyone likes their coffee black, y'know!"

"Whatever," Kurogane mumbled, rolling his eyes. He leaned his back against the counter as he sipped his morning brew.

Tomoyo turned around, sliding the omelette onto a plate. When she set the pan back onto the stove, her eyebrows went up when she looked at Kurogane.

"What?" he asked in his rough tone.

Feeling a slight annoyance at his tone of voice, Tomoyo pouted slightly. But nonetheless, she smiled through her cute little pout. She reached out to Kurogane.

"Your tag's sticking out," she said, tucking the tag of Kurogane's shirt back in. "And you're wearing your shirt backward."

Kurogane stiffened as he felt Tomoyo's fingers brush his neck when she tucked in the tag. Giving a _hmph_, Kurogane brushed past Tomoyo and grabbed his omelette. Again, he leaned against the counter whilst he munched on his breakfast.

Tomoyo had taken a seat at the kitchen table with Fai and the two started up a conversation which Kurogane ignored.

With each bite of his omelette, Kurogane could feel a sense of annoyance build up inside of him.

Why was Kurogane so annoyed?

Because his omelette just tasted so damn good.

On the other side of the counter, Tomoyo smiled a smug smile to herself; she could tell from Kurogane's hunched shoulders that her omelette was damn yummy and there was nothing that spiky-haired man could do or say about it.

Tomoyo had convinced herself that the best way to go was to be kind (rather than annoyed) with Kurogane; apparently Fai did just as well with his happy go lucky attitude. Where would Tomoyo get if she were to stay mad at him– then again, she was still feeling a little insulted that Kurogane thought that she was a "kid," but she tried to put it behind her.

Plus, something about Kurogane intrigued her; Tomoyo actually had no idea what it was, but was determined to break the barrier of his stubborn and neglecting attitude.

– – –

"Tomoyo-sensei?"

"Yes?" Tomoyo turned around. Instantly, her face broke into a smile; Tomoyo had only gone through a week of teaching and was almost ashamed to admit it, but she already had her favorite in her class.

Sakura, with her short auburn hair and piercing emerald eyes, was standing at her teacher's side, clutching a large metal bowl filled with what looked like cookie dough.

"I was wondering if you could taste this... to make sure if I followed the recipe right?" Sakura asked, looking a little shy.

Somehow, Tomoyo couldn't help but particularly like Sakura; maybe it was always her willingness to help others, or her tendency to fall over sleeping– or maybe it was even the fact that Tomoyo got this strange urge to sew clothes for the emerald eyed girl...

Today, Tomoyo had set a challenge to her class; they were making white chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies but they had to figure out what ingredients to use to give the cookies it's perfect chewy-ness.

Tasting it, but not letting on if Sakura was on track or not (she was), Tomoyo nodded and stated that Sakura seemed to be off to a good start.

"Tomoyo-chan!" came a singsong voice.

Looking up, Tomoyo was greeted with Fai leaning against the doorframe, a hand up in greeting, and Kurogane, who was simply leaning against the huge window pane next to the door. (It was obvious that Fai had dragged him along.)

"Hyuuu! That smells good!" Fai cried happily, sniffing the air.

Tomoyo gestured toward a plate of fresh cookies on the counter, baked by her before class. "Help yourself."

"Yaay!" Fai skipped into the class, dragging Kurogane in by the neck of his track jacket.

The students greeted the two teachers while Fai garbled back hellos, his mouth fall of cookie.

"Oooh," Fai sighed after swallowing. "Now _that _was a thing of beauty."

Smiling brightly, Tomoyo felt pleased. "Really?"

"The chocolate just melted in with the cookie and the nuts were perfectly crunchy." Fai sighed again. "Pure bliss!"

Tomoyo's eyes went glittery. "_Really_?"

"I am at loss of words when it comes to describing this heavenly confection," Fai said in a voice that sounded like he were reciting a poem. His eyes also went sparkly. "It melts my heart and leaves me aching for more of the delicacy!"

"Oh, Fai!" Tomoyo said, her hands clutched together, eyes still sparkling,

"Have a nice life, you two," Kurogane said, rolling his eyes. He was about to turn around and leave when Fai's hand shot out and caught Kurogane's collar.

"Where're you going, Kuro-tan?" Fai asked cheerfully.

"Would you like to try one?" Tomoyo held out the plate of cookies.

"I don't eat sweets," came Kurogane's curt reply.

But before Kurogane could close his mouth after his reply, Fai popped in a cookie.

And before everyone knew it, Kurogane, spewing death threats, was chasing the laughing Fai around the kitchens.

'_There they go again,' _all the students thought as they all, and their teacher sweatdropped.

– – –

"Why do you always drag me out to eat?" Kurogane complained, his hands behind his head. "Knowing you, you'll just make me pay." With this, Kurogane shot an evil glare at Fai.

"Oh, Kuro-pi, you know I would never do that!" Fai laughed, flapping his hand up and down.

'_That's what you make me do every time, you idiot,' _Kurogane thought, feeling throughly annoyed.

"Besides, it wouldn't be as fun without you!" Fai slapped Kurogane's back.

The school day had ended and Fai suggested the trio go out for an early dinner. Fai and Kurogane walked to the teacher's lounge, where they were planning to meet Tomoyo. Upon entering, Kurogane plopped into one of the couches while Fai struck up a conversation with his fellow colleague in the science department.

Staring at the ceiling, feeling extremely bored, Kurogane started to count the dots on the ceiling.

'_400...404...414...424...434...444–'_

"Oh, Karen-san!" Fai laughed, interrupting Kurogane's counting. "You really must stop playing with those Bunsen Burners! If you keep playing with fire, you'll get hurt!"

Kurogane shot a death glare at Fai (who didn't notice). Kurogane wasn't so sure why he was so deep into his counting but it had taken his mind off of things. Such as wondering how much their next meal would be and if his credit card was close to being maxed out.

"I'm here!" come a voice, bursting through the door. Tomoyo breathed heavily and looked as if she had sprinted through the halls.

"Hey Tomoyo-chan! Can you stay here and keep Kuro-chi company? I wanna check out the new molecular structure kit in Karen-san's room."

Nodding, Tomoyo smiled at Karen, who smiled back whilst twirling strands of her blonde hair amidst her ringlets.

"I'll see you guys later," Karen said. "Hope you eat something good tonight." She winked.

Tomoyo nodded again.

When Karen's smile was directed to Kurogane, he also nodded. "Kasumi," he merely said.

"Don't you two run away!" Fai said cheerfully, shutting the door behind him.

Kurogane was sure he heard the lock outside click. Seeing the slight frown on Tomoyo's face, he was sure she heard it too.

Feeling bored, Kurogane went back to counting the dots.

'_1... 4... 8... 12... 16... 20...'_

"Was it just me or did that Fai lock us in?" Tomoyo asked.

Feeling another surge of annoyance, Kurogane gruffly replied, "Knowing that idiot, I wouldn't doubt it." _'After all, I'm like this stupid credit card. It'd be a sad day for him if he had to pay for dinner by himself. Locking me in would assure a free meal... that idiot...'_

Tomoyo bit her lip; she wasn't too keen on the idea of being locked in the teacher's lounge with Kurogane. She was still trying to build a friendship with the guy but he was just stubborn as hell and disregarded her.

She strode to the door and pulled. Indeed, Fai had locked the two in. Fai had confided in her that Kurogane was his source of free food, but was there any purpose in locking the two in? Surely Kurogane had no means to escape. After all, what she had seen in his refrigerator... Tomoyo was sure the man didn't cook for himself very much. Nor did he seem good at it. Tomoyo had seen those leftovers and she wasn't too impressed. In fact, it scared her. (_'What the hell is _this_ supposed to be! Is it _supposed_ to be green on the edges!'_)

'_Why do schools always have to have locks on the outside?' _Tomoyo thought grudgingly. She sighed and accepted the fact that she was stuck with Mister "I can't cook any decent food and leave leftovers to mold in my fridge" and couldn't escape.

"Soo..." Tomoyo plopped down on the couch next to Kurogane. He peered at her through the corner of his eye and he felt annoyed. She had again disrupted his counting.

"Tell me, Kuro-chan, do you cook frequently?"

Kurogane, who gave a sigh of exasperation, gave up on his counting. He glanced at Tomoyo side ways. "Why?"

'_I was wondering how you survived in college with those cooking skills of yours.'_ "Just curious." Tomoyo shrugged. She pretended to be interested in the ringlets at the end of her long hair.

Tomoyo waited for an answer. Which didn't come. _'Geez... antisocial, are we?'_

As the silence settled in between the two, Tomoyo became more and more impatient, starting to wonder what was taking Fai so long. The silence did _not_ make her feel comfortable, especially with some weirdo so absorbed in playing connect-the-dots on the ceiling.

'_Maybe I'm claustrophobic?'_ Tomoyo panicked. She started to feel light headed. _'Where's Fai? Oh why oh why, of all people, do I need to be stuck in the teacher's lounge (where "staff members of the opposite sex are not allowed to fraternize with each other") with Mister "I'm abnormally tall and don't mind sitting in the staff room all alone with a girl and not even bother to make conversation"!'_

Her arms folded, Tomoyo glanced sideways at Kurogane. "Ne, Kuro-chan? I'm betting you could bust the door open..."

"So? What about it?" Kurogane didn't take his eyes off the ceiling; he was almost approaching one thousand dots.

'_Sitting here with you is a little awkward, don't you think? It'd probably be better if we went our separate ways...' _"Fai seems to be taking a long time," Tomoyo replied. _'Deliberately, don't you think?'_ "I mean, he really didn't think we'd run away, right?"

Tomoyo waited for an answer.

It didn't come.

Feeling a surge of annoyance, more than ever, Tomoyo wanted to be as far away as possible from Kurogane. Something told her that they wouldn't become friends anytime soon.

Sighing, (deciding to resort to the advantage of her being female) Tomoyo inched over to Kurogane, slipping her arm through his.

"But Kuro-chaaaaan," she whined, "don't you think it's getting stuffy in here?"

Kurogane looked at her through the corner of his eye, as if to say "just what the hell are you doing?" but he didn't respond.

Pouting, Tomoyo slipped her arm from Kurogane's around to his neck.

"Fai sure is taking a long time... I'm so bored..." Tomoyo sighed again as she started fiddling with the hair around the back side of Kurogane's neck.

Kurogane's eye twitched; more than ever, his eyes simply blared out "just _what_ in all hells are you doing, woman!" but still, no word came from his mouth.

Tomoyo actually found herself enjoying the fact that Kurogane looked a little uneasy while almost threatening to kill her with those blood red eyes. On the other hand, Tomoyo realized that beyond the visual spikiness of Kurogane's hair, it was really quite soft all the same.

Her other hand slipped to the front where she started to fiddle with the zipper of Kurogane's (of course, black) track jacket.

Sighing again, Tomoyo again plunged into her torturing game on Kurogane's mind. "Y'know, I guess if Fai doesn't show up soon, we can just _amuse_ ourselves..."

An eye twitched again and Tomoyo found herself grinning inwardly.

"Like, _preoccupy_ ourselves... I'm sure you know how it is, Kuro-chan. Two people..."

Another eye twitch.

"... a guy..."

Tomoyo almost swore Kurogane's hand was shaking.

"... a girl..."

Kurogane's head turned ever so slowly to look at Tomoyo, a look of hidden horror in his eyes.

"... _alone_..." Tomoyo drew out her word as she started to pull down the zipper–

Suddenly, Tomoyo was thrown against the couch. And before she knew it, all she heard was a loud crunching noise crossed with a mild explosion, and the door was gone.

Outside, just out of proximity of being flattened by the broken door, Fai's hand was reached out as if to take the door knob. His face was contorted with an awkward grin, clearly amused and confused.

Emerging from the door-less staff room was Kurogane, his cheeks red, fists clenched, and breathing heavily.

"Alright, Kuro-pon?" Fai asked, still wearing the smile. "You seem a little flustered."

But Kurogane didn't answer as he walked down the hall, as if in a daze. The next to emerge was a whistling girl, clearly looking pleased with herself.

"Were you kids playing nice?" Fai inquired. "Must I ask what went on in there?"

"It pays to be female, y'know? Ready for dinner?" Tomoyo simply linked arms with Fai, and continued to wear her satisfied smile. The twinkle in her eyes sparked a twinkle in the ice blue orbs of the companion next to her.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

I gave you an inside look into part of Tsubasa 10! –runs away laughing– am I being a spoiler?

Karen Kasumi: character from X (X/1999) and featured in Tsubasa 8 and 10. (Because she's a fire user, I thought it'd be fun for her to be a chemistry teacher– waai. I can totally see her playing with fire and blowing things up –big smile–)

**d'you guys need me to re-state where all these other CLAMP characters are from? (like what I did above) I don't mind but if you guys don't need the reminder, you can just tell me. I just do it just in case you happen to forget– after all, the CLAMP universe is preetty big!**


	5. What Thunderstorms Bring

CHAPTER FIVE: What Thunderstorms Bring

Tomoyo generally had nothing against the rain. In fact, there were some times when she loved it. She loved silent rain, the only sound of raindrops pattering against the water resistant cloth of umbrellas. Misty rain, that felt especially nice on the face. Rain during the brightest sunlight, making the blue sky bluer, shaded with an odd tint of orange, illuminating the chlorophyl of spring leaves. The rain that replenished the thirst of the beautiful flowers all over town. The rain that offered a soothing array of music in the dark.

But this was ridiculous.

All Tomoyo wanted to do was go out for a run and what did she get? A huge downpour and a heavy head. Sometimes having long, thick hair wasn't too pretty; when immensely wet, Tomoyo's head felt like it weighed a ton. Nonetheless, Tomoyo kept running through the pouring barrage of water.

After a huge amount of persuading from Souma, Tomoyo took off from the café early to enjoy the rest of her day. ("After all, you're a full time teacher now! You should be relaxing on the weekends!") The sun was so bright that Tomoyo decided to go out for her daily run. Too bad she hadn't expected the sudden rain. But of course, no one expected it. People rushed in the opposite direction, holding newspapers over their heads or held their coats as a shield.

Mentally cursing her decision to go the long way, Tomoyo trudged on. She swore that the hood of her sweatshirt was serving as a bucket, catching the rain and dragging her down.

So at this moment, Tomoyo hated the rain. Despised it. She hated her wet hair, her wet sweatshirt and bucket of a hood, her wet shorts, her wet shoes. The works.

'_Almost home... just... ten... more... blocks...'_

After splashing through more puddles and dodging other soaked shadowy figures, Tomoyo finally came to stop, catching her breath and trying to take shelter under the tiny overhang of a store window. Trying to wring out her hair and clothes, Tomoyo shivered.

'_Dammit. Looks like the rain isn't going to let up anytime soon...' _Tomoyo looked up to the sky. She frowned, seeing the grey sky, murked with dark clouds, get darker._'What happened to a "clear, sunny day?"' _Tomoyo cursed the weatherman and hugged her chest, trying to regain some warmth in her hands. Raindrops still swept across her face, illuminating her pale skin.

Tomoyo looked from side to side; she swore she had heard a sound other than the falling drops of rain. She frowned, not seeing anything except for the water dropping from her eyelashes. It sounded oddly like a whimpering noise. It was so faint that Tomoyo was surprised that she could hear it at all.

When she finally located the source of the noise, her eyes softened.

"Aaaww," she cooed. She knelt down, facing the entrance of the alleyway next to the shop. Peeking out from the corner was a scruffy puppy, it's black fur sticking up in all directions. It's pointy ears twitched every time a huge drop of rain splattered on it.

Tomoyo looked from side to side again. Focusing back on the puppy, Tomoyo held out her hand and beckoned to it.

"C'mere, boy..." she said softly. "I won't hurt you."

The puppy looked skeptical as he tilted his head to the side. It made Tomoyo chuckle.

'_Poor thing,'_ Tomoyo thought. _'No collar. Must be a stray.'_

Reaching out a little further, Tomoyo tried to let the puppy take a sniff, letting him know that she wasn't a threat. The puppy nudged it's wet, black nose against Tomoyo's fingers but then cowered back.

"No, no, I'm not gonna hurt you." Tomoyo still held out her hand, despite the numbness that started to spread from the tip of her fingers. Smiling, Tomoyo inched a little forward. The puppy took a step back.

Tomoyo patiently waited, now back out in the open rain. A few seconds went by when the puppy took a tentative step towards the beckoning girl.

"There you go," Tomoyo whispered encouragingly. "C'mon..."

It took a little while for Tomoyo to realize it but no longer was rain dripping down her back. She was already so soaked that it took her a moment to realize that no new water would be added to the clothes that clung to her body.

She looked up. The person towered above her, holding a small umbrella with a ducky handle. Tomoyo gaped.

Kurogane looked down at her, as if to ask "you have a problem with my umbrella" and (as usual) "what the hell are you doing/what in all hells are you doing out, all soaked in the rain/what the hell is your problem/ (or just plain) what the hell ."

"Kuro-chan..."

A look of annoyance emerged in his eyes but he didn't speak. He just continued to look down at Tomoyo with all the annoyance and impatience of the world.

Tomoyo looked back at the puppy; he was inching forward, and once he was close enough, he licked the tip of Tomoyo's finger.

A smile of great relief crossed Tomoyo's face as she ruffled the fur on the dog's head.

"Who's a good boy?" she murmured. The puppy took tiny steps to Tomoyo and nudged her knee. Tomoyo threw her head back and laughed as the puppy repeatedly bonked his head on her knee. "I'll take you home– that alright?"

The puppy licked Tomoyo's head and nudged his head under her hand, as if trying to say "pet me, pet me" and smiling, Tomoyo did. She then scooped up the wet (and presumably dirty) puppy into her arms. Standing up, she looked at Kurogane.

"Um... Thank you," she said, feeling quite awkward and shy at the same time.

Looking down at her with his crimson eyes, Kurogane surveyed her for a second. Then he turned around and started walking away, leaving Tomoyo and her newfound friend to get drenched again. The puppy reached up and licked Tomoyo's chin whilst she stood and stared at Kurogane's retreating back.

What made her stare even more was when Kurogane stopped, turned around and glared at her. "What're you waiting for?" he drawled. "Hurry up!"

Taken aback, Tomoyo stuttered, "Oh! Um– okay!" She took an awkward step forward, as if hesitant, then jogged to Kurogane's side. "T-thank you," Tomoyo said again, looking down at her feet; she didn't want to think about it but she was sure that her cheeks were pink– and she was sure it wasn't from the cold.

While Tomoyo stared at the ground, Kurogane took his moment to survey Tomoyo again. Well, as much as he could see of her– which basically consisted of the top of her head, matted with her wet, dark purple hair.

Almost sighing, he faced forward and started walking, holding the umbrella over Tomoyo's head.

– – –

"Is– Is it alright if I use your shower?" Tomoyo asked, feeling that warmth spread through her cheeks.

Kurogane merely grunted as he tossed the ducky umbrella in the stand by the door; he was half drenched, as he had held the tiny umbrella over Tomoyo. Tomoyo set down the puppy, allowing him to make his own puddle on the hardwood floor.

"Aw, no..." Kurogane growled as he saw the puppy shake itself, spraying dirty water all over the walls.

"Oh! Sorry!" Tomoyo scooped the puppy back up, looking sheepish as she stood in her puddle that was starting to turn into a growing lake.

Turning away and rolling his eyes, Kurogane trudged to his closet and tossed a huge towel at Tomoyo. Tomoyo preceded immediately to drying the dripping dog. Because the rain had started to pour at a ridiculous rate and Kurogane just happened to live on the block, the two decided (or more like Tomoyo suggested) it would be best to camp out until the rain softened up. Kurogane watched her as he ruffled a towel through his hair.

After drying the puppy (and as he shook out the remaining drops of water), Tomoyo tried to mop up her own mess.

"I hope the water won't stain your floor," Tomoyo said in a worried voice, standing up and clutching the dripping towel. Her worried look was suddenly accompanied by a sneeze (that caused the spiky black puppy to jump back).

"You better catch that shower," Kurogane said gruffly as Tomoyo sniffled. He gestured to the hallway. "It's down there and to the left."

"Thanks," Tomoyo said in a voice that indicated one was about to catch a cold. She sniffled again as she tried to walk quickly across the carpet, taking care not to get it too wet.

Kurogane went back to making coffee. He frowned, not sure if Tomoyo liked coffee; he didn't remember if she drank it the last and first time she was over. So instead, he dug through his cupboards for some hot chocolate mix– something he was sure that did not even take existence in his kitchen.

As he pushed aside individual packages of coffee beans, Kurogane abruptly stopped. _'_What_ am I doing? Since when did I even _think_ about making hot chocolate?'_ Kurogane scowled but instead, he resumed his search for a possible hint of cocoa.

After giving up his search, Kurogane went ahead and made enough coffee for two and plopped down in his armchair and drank his. As he did, he noticed the black puppy sitting on it's hunches, staring at him.

"_What_?" Kurogane sneered, feeling annoyed. But instead, the puppy wagged his shaggy tail and continued to stare. Rolling his eyes, Kurogane went back to drinking his coffee. As he did, he looked outside as the rain pounded against his glass sliding door. _'Looks like a storm...'_ As he stared outside, the puppy leapt onto the couch and resumed it's position of staring at Kurogane.

– – –

"Aaaaah," Tomoyo sighed. "That feels _way_ better." Steamy hot water poured down her back and the warm air was intensified as the dryer continued to clang away, making strong attempts to dry Tomoyo's clothes and shoes.

As she dried herself and patted her hair dry (or as dry as she could get it), Tomoyo surveyed the bathroom. "Pretty neat for a single guy..." Tomoyo murmured. She opened up the dryer and felt her clothes.

Warm but not dry.

Tomoyo frowned and sneezed again. She noticed a laundry hamper but it was empty. Wrapping the towel around herself, Tomoyo cautiously opened the bathroom door. She peeked out to make sure she was safe from view. All she could see was the puppy sitting on the couch, wagging the tip of his tail, facing who Tomoyo presumed to be Kurogane. She smiled to herself and tiptoed to the room across the hallway.

Closing the door behind her, Tomoyo looked around. Kurogane's room was fairly neat, to say the least. The bed was not made– the blanket was tossed to the side. It made Tomoyo wonder if Kurogane was napping before he decided to go for a walk in the rain. She also spotted a laptop tossed at the corner of the bed.

'_What does a gym teacher need a laptop for?...'_

Deciding that she was already nosy enough for actually _being_ in Kurogane's room, Tomoyo promptly turned to the dresser. She pulled out a large red tee-shirt that read 'Tsubasa Academy Gym Department' and a pair of black pajama pants.

'_Mmm... comfy...' _Tomoyo thought as she felt warmer with comfortable clothes on. Slipping out of the bedroom, Tomoyo left the towel in the bathroom.

"Kuro-chan!" Tomoyo called as she checked her clothes again. "I borrowed some of your clothes– hope you don't mind!"

Letting the dryer go back to work, Tomoyo exited the bathroom, making her way down the hall when–

BOOM!

Tomoyo jumped and clutched her head. _'Oh no... thunderstorm...'_ She ran into the living room where she saw Kurogane looking out at the storm with what almost looked like mild interest.

"I–" Tomoyo started.

CRASH!

Tomoyo jumped again and practically squeaked. She scooped up the puppy from his spot and cuddled it to her. Her eyes her shut tight as she waited for the next crash.

Kurogane looked up with the same mild look of interest. "Is something wrong?" he asked cooly.

Tomoyo opened one eye; there was a huge flash of light and her eye went shut again.

BOOOOOM!

If Tomoyo clenched the puppy any harder, she would have squeezed it to death. But the puppy found the storm fun and was happily licking Tomoyo's forehead, eyes, and nose. Tomoyo stood there, shaking, eyes glued shut.

Kurogane blinked and continued to stare at her.

There was another flash and even with Tomoyo's shut eyes, she flinched and this time leapt onto the couch, curled up into a ball.

The thunder preceded to take on a loud cracking noise that sizzled and was drawn out.

"Don't like thunderstorms, hmm?" Tomoyo almost forced herself to open her eyes and glare at Kurogane; she disliked the amused and contempt tone his voice took on. But before she could even speak, there was another flash of lightening. The thunder that followed was so loud that Tomoyo practically jumped; she gave a terrified squeak and accidentally bashed her head against Kurogane's shoulder when she jolted from the sound.

"Ow..." Tomoyo murmured with her eyes still clenched shut. But she didn't move so her head rested against Kurogane's shoulder; more like pushing against Kurogane's shoulder for Tomoyo was so intent on hiding from the storm that Kurogane was basically her "shield" from the storm.

Looking down at her with the same surveying eyes, Kurogane's brow furrowed. Just exactly _why_ was this kid _cuddling _with him?

At that moment, with the continuous lightening, the lights in Kurogane's apartment flickered. Flickered again. And then went out.

The room left two people staring up at the lights as they watched it's last dying moment.

Covering his eyes and sighing, Kurogane made to stand up. "I made some coffee– you want a cup?" he asked.

But as he started to stand, Tomoyo's arm was linked through his. She tugged at it and looked up at him. With the little light of the grey sky and having his eyes adjusted to darkness, Kurogane could see that Tomoyo looked genuinely afraid.

She didn't say anything but looked at Kurogane with a slightly helpless smile. The slightest hint of surprise passed through Kurogane's normally zero expression look. Sighing again, he sat back down as Tomoyo, feeling more secure, clutched his arm tighter.

Kurogane watched the storm as Tomoyo rest with her eyes shut, flinching every time the thunder sounded. Kurogane could hear the soft whimpering of the puppy; he assumed it was asleep. As the storm continued to rage, Kurogane looked down at Tomoyo. It seemed that she had also fallen asleep. Her grip on Kurogane's arm did not slack.

One eyebrow slightly raised, Kurogane again looked out to the wet world.

What a mess he had gotten himself into.

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muwa– sorries if this chappi seems fillerish– I really dint it mean to be. I've been wanting to write this chappi for sucha long time! –big smile– my inspiration for this one came from the chapter cover of chapitre 24. y'know, the one with kurogane with the puppy in his shirt and the ducky umbrella on the ground with mokona holding up the sign "please adopt me"? Uwaaai! I love that pic!

**AND THIS IS IMPORTANT– it seems that I won't be updating very much in awhile because my homework load in psychology is getting a little ridiculous –frowns– my hopes are to update at _least_ once a month but I have no guarantees. IF YOU'D LIKE ME TO E YOU WHEN I UPDATE, FEEL FREE TO LEAVE YOUR E ADDRESS!**


	6. The Coworker Slumber Party

**Waaaaaaaaaai! –runs in with screeching halt– I'm so sorry! I had this chapter half finished and just left it sitting there... oh sad day. Please accept my apologies...**

So basically, I've given up on the whole "I'll email you when I update" thing cuz I keep losing people's addresses and it's so hard to keep track! Sorries bout that... I really am... hopefully most of you aren't as forgetful as I am so you check for updates yourselves! anyways,** thankies to those who reviewed and sorries for the wait— you guys more extraordinarily WONDERFUL!**

Another problem I have is that I've realized that I have no idea where this fic is going. I have no set plot or anything of the like. ... well, except for the last chapter... I mainly go with the flow on most of my fics but... So in lieu of that, updates may or may not be frequent, depending on how the gears in my brain are turning but no matter what, I won't abandon this fic, I promise!

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CHAPTER SIX: The Coworker Slumber Party

Ding!

Tomoyo pulled on a pair of embroidered oven mitts (compliments of her mom) and opened the oven door. As she opened the door, a gust of warm air overcame her, blowing wisps of her hair back. The room was instantly filled with the air of fresh baked pastries. Or pastry shells, at least.

Tomoyo poked one of the pastries; the shell was a little tender and crispy all the same. Satisfied, Tomoyo set them on a cooling rack and proceeded to the refrigerator to pull out the batch of cream she had whipped up herself.

Ever since Tomoyo had walked into the school, she had been on a baking high; she had come into school early in order to prepare for the days lesson and just found herself craving cream puffs for some odd reason.

It was particularly odd for Tomoyo because even though as a master pastry chef, she was a little touchy when it came to making cream puffs. Cream puffs _were_ a difficult pastry to make and with all the times Tomoyo had made it, technically, she would be able to glide through the process easily. Countless times people have congratulated her on her "perfect" cream puff, but Tomoyo was never satisfied; it was like an ingredient was missing. She had gone through so many varieties and each time she wasn't happy with the outcome. People said otherwise but Tomoyo never chose to accept this.

It had been awhile since Tomoyo had actually made cream puffs, even as a pastry chef. Tomoyo tapped her chin thoughtfully.

'_Maybe it's in the cream?'_ Tomoyo dipped her pinky into the cream and took a sample. "Hmm..." she murmured. She was about to dip her pinky back in for another taste when–

"Ah! No you don't! Don't they always say not to double dip?"

Tomoyo whirled around, feeling like she were a criminal caught in the midst of a heinous crime. She relaxed when she saw it was Fai.

"Just taste testing," she said smiling.

"May I join the judging panel?" Fai asked, responding with a wide grin. He pulled up one of the stools and took a seat.

"I'd like that." Tomoyo scooped some of the cream into a floppy fabric cone and inserted the metal tip of the cone into the puff and squeezed in the cream. Opposed to other pastry chefs who simply sliced the puff in half and lathered the cream into the middle for a sandwich, Tomoyo liked the idea of the cream actually being _inside_ of the puff. "Would you like some chocolate on top?" Tomoyo indicated that she had made a chocolate concoction to make a shell on top.

"Anything you give me will be fine, Tomoyo-chan. I'm not a picky eater!"

Leaving off the chocolate, Tomoyo placed the cream puff on a small plate and slid it to Fai. She took a seat in the stool opposite him.

"It looks so yummy!" Fai cried excitedly, clapping his hands together.

"I want an honest opinion, okay?" Tomoyo sounded so serious that Fai laughed.

"Yes, ma'am!" Fai saluted, prompting a laugh from Tomoyo. Fai dug into his afternoon dessert.

Tomoyo watched anxiously, nervously wringing her hands. She wasn't really sure why she was doing that– why should she be nervous? Fai looked so thoughtful amidst his chewing that Tomoyo was almost certain he that was trying to humor her.

When Fai finally pushed his plate away and stopped chewing, Tomoyo jumped in. "How was it?" she asked, voice anxious.

As if trying to torture Tomoyo, Fai rubbed his chin and looked up at the ceiling. "Hmm..." was his reply.

"Fai!" Tomoyo cried with exasperation.

"You wanted me to be honest, right?" Fai prompted, an eyebrow raised.

Tomoyo nodded eagerly.

"It's delicious, no point in denying it, my dearest pastry chef," Fai said. "But it seems to be missing something... I'm not really quite sure where it is, but something is definitely missing."

Hearing Fai's report, Tomoyo gave a sigh of relief. Eyebrow raised again, Fai observed Tomoyo with a lopsided grin.

"Now that's an odd reaction; you _wanted_ me to tell you that there was something missing?"

"As weird as it sounds, yes, I did." Tomoyo fingered the empty plate, tracing the edges. "I've always thought that there was something missing... but people keep telling me it tastes fine." Tomoyo frowned. "I just can't put my finger on it... what's missing?"

"Aaaaw, take that frown off, Tomoyo-chan. It doesn't suit your face at all," Fai said. He flashed a reassuring smile. "The answer never comes quick– and hey! At least you _know_ you're missing something."

Smiling in return, Tomoyo nodded. Fai excused himself, saying he had to get ready for his next class. Tomoyo went back to filling the rest of the puffs with cream.

'_So I've identified the problem... I guess I need to find the solution...'_

Tomoyo stopped filling the puffs and stared out with a blank look. Like a lightbulb above her head, her face lit up as she was hit with a sudden idea.

– – –

"You want to be able to sense. Sense your surroundings, sense the movements– see ahead."

The head full of messy chestnut hair nodded. The speaker cracked a grin. Before anything else happened, in one fluid motion, the pole came swinging at the boy with the messy hair.

He deflected as he leapt back, barely making it. Kurogane advanced on the kid as the kid continued to deflect. Kurogane changed tact and instead swung to the right. The boy knew his mistake as the pole made contact with his arm, making him flinch.

"Sense that presence, kid. You knew I was going to blow from the right. Again," Kurogane said in his deep voice.

The "kid" (or sometimes "brat" or even known as "Syaoran" among his peers) nodded.

And the two went at it again, sparring like no tomorrow. Kurogane clearly had the upper hand but his opponent was no clear underdog.

Tomoyo watched the spar from up in the stands; she was intrigued by Kurogane's fluid motions (_'Pretty smooth for a guy his size'_) and by the mass mess of hair of the "kid" (_'I wonder if he gets a lot of girls with that messy, windswept look...'_).

"They're quite a duo, aren't they?" came a voice to Tomoyo's left.

"Mmm..." Tomoyo answered without looking.

"Syaoran-kun is quite the athlete, even with his handicap." Fai nibbled on a muffin as he leaned back into the cold metal behind him.

"Handicap?" Tomoyo inquired, this time turning to look at Fai. "Meaning his blind eye?"

This prompted wide eyes from Fai. "How did you know?"

In return, Tomoyo shrugged. She turned back to watch the spar. "Kuro-chan had a pretty hard swing coming in at the right. Even the most inexperienced would have had a reaction to that."

"Hyuu! You sure are observant, Tomoyo-chan!" Fai whistled. "But really, Syaoran-kun, even with his blind eye, is amazing. He's got great reflexes and has the most unique fighting style I've ever seen... even Kuro-sama said so! And he rarely ever admits to anyone being close to being as good as him!" Fai tapped his nose knowingly as Tomoyo turned to look at him. "I think Syaoran-kun is a favorite of Kuro-chan's, even though he says he doesn't play favorites."

Tomoyo couldn't help noting Fai's sense of fashion; Fai wore a long trench coat that seemed to be made of an incredibly warm material and sported large buttons, fastening the coat together. And wrapped twice around his slender neck was a black and white striped scarf, it's ends almost as long as the hems of the coat. Fai swept an end of the scarf over his shoulder (whilst still munching on this muffin) as a gust of wind proceeded to pick up the end, making it trail behind Fai like a victorious flag. Tomoyo couldn't help nodding appreciatively– a man with good fashion was indeed a rare one.

The two spectators watched from the bleachers, huddling together the chilly winds swept by.

"Mm? What's this?" Fai asked, looking at Tomoyo curiously. He had noticed slight movement in Tomoyo's chest area and that, if anything, was just plain weird.

Within Tomoyo's jacket popped out a fuzzy black head.

"Ooooh! It's a puppy!" Fai cooed. He broke off a piece of his muffin and offered it to the puppy. The puppy sniffed it, looked at Fai, wagged its tail (Tomoyo felt it's smushed tail thump against her chest), and accepted the offering.

"I found him last week on my run– poor thing was stranded in the rain." Tomoyo looked fondly down at the puppy and stroked its head.

"_This_ is the infamous puppy, hmm?" Fai said thoughtfully. He reached over and withdrew the puppy from its warm haven of Tomoyo's jacket. "I've heard about him quite a bit from our dear Kuro-wanwan." Holding the puppy so that they were eye to eye, Fai grinned. "Does he have a name?"

"Actually, I'm not sure." Tomoyo touched a finger to her chin. "I _was_ contemplating asking Kuro-chan to help me think of a name..."

Fai laughed, setting the black ball of fur into his lap. "Oh I'm sure that's Kuro-tan's idea of fun."

The two had returned their focus on the sparring duo until all of sudden Fai said, "So how was your sleepover at Kuro-sama's?"

The question was so unexpected that Tomoyo just about blushed. "Excuse me?" she squeaked.

Fai only smiled in return. He fiddled with the puppy's ear, but his eyes never left Tomoyo's. "Kuro-myuu gave me all the details." Fai paused, looking thoughtful again. "Which is fairly odd, given that he _never_ tells me anything." He pouted at this thought.

"Then you don't need any further details," Tomoyo said, blushing as she stared at her lap. _'Why do my cheeks feel hot? I have nothing to be embarrassed about...'_

"Oh but I do!" Fai said excitedly. "I wanna hear it all from the beautiful young lady that made Kuro-sama's heart sway."

"_What_!" Tomoyo screeched, her cheeks practically aflame.

Flapping his hand as if it were no big deal, Fai proceeded. "I'm beyond sure that if it were anyone else, male or female, Kuro-ro would've kicked them out the second he got a chance."

"I don't believe that," Tomoyo said nonchalantly, trying to take the attention off herself. "I don't see Kuro-chan being that cruel." _'Actually, I could see every bit of that...'_ Tomoyo thought, almost cracking a grin.

When Tomoyo noticed Fai's expectant ice blue eyes on her, she realized that he was still waiting for her to spill her side of the story– The Tales of Tomoyo and Her Escapade at Kurogane's Apartment. She didn't even _want_ to recount her story because she could already feel the heat rising to her cheeks. If it could get any better for Tomoyo (which, apparently, wasn't going to happen), it was all she could do to stop herself from remembering what happened after she woke up...

– – –

_A sliver of sunlight shot directly at Tomoyo's eyelids. She clenched her eyes tighter; she was in no mood of actually opening her eyes and getting up._

'_One more hour...' she thought. She hugged her pillow to her chest a little tighter. Her pillow fidgeted for a second, then went limp. Not taking notice that her pillow was in fact alive, Tomoyo started to drift back into sleep. 'Maybe two more hours...' Tomoyo thought, feeling more than comfortable in her spot._ _'Or maybe even three...'_

_Tomoyo gave a sigh of pleasure. What better bliss could she have when she had the chance to sleep in? (Tomoyo told herself that the answer was nothing– nothing could be better than sleeping in.) This was possibly the best sleep she had gotten since her move to the town. Eyes still closed and a smile plastered on her face, Tomoyo made to shift to stretch out her legs when–_

_Tomoyo's eyes snapped wide open when she felt a pair of arms around her tighten around her chest, enveloping her._

'_Oh... my...' Squeezing her eyes shut momentarily, Tomoyo tried hard not to complete her thought. 'Please do _**not**_ tell me...' Opening her eyes again, her vision was a bit fuzzy. Her eyes shifting frantically, looking at her surroundings, Tomoyo realized that she wasn't exactly at home._

_With great difficulty, not to mention apprehension, Tomoyo strained her neck to glance at her captor who was hugging her body against theirs so tightly._

'_Oh God...' Tomoyo thought as her eyes widened in horror._

_Her captor, or rather, Kurogane, gave a sigh of content. His head lay on an angle on the couch arm and his chin rested at the top of Tomoyo's head. His face was peaceful as he slept– so peaceful, in fact, that Tomoyo got curious._

'_This is what he looks like when he sleeps? He looks so peaceful... and not cranky or blatantly pissed off for once..._' _Smothering a giggle, Tomoyo almost forgot that she in fact, was_ _trapped and sleeping next to the man who thought she was a student and who also just so happened to be a co-worker._ _Oh, not to mention that this was one of _the _most hi-lighted "taboos" in the 'Teacher's Manual'–_ _not to fraternize_ romantically _with fellow teachers/co-workers; Tomoyo could almost recite these words with the utmost sarcasm._ _It was also the first words she had ever read out of the manual when she first got her job._

_But let us snap back to reality._

_Wearing a lopsided, unsure smile, twitching eye, and bearing a sweating forehead, Tomoyo started to contemplate her options. Number one: Attempt to free herself from Kurogane's kung-fu grip (success calculated at less than 14.44 percent). Number two: Whilst trying to free herself, wake up Kurogane in process, who may or may not be pissed (chance of spiky-haired man getting pissed calculated at over 100 percent)._ _Number three: Just pretend she was at home in her own bed, snuggle in, and get back to sleep._

_Unfortunately, number three was _NOT _an option._

_Unfortunately._

_Squeezing her eyes tightly for a moment, Tomoyo prayed that this incident would stay within the walls of Kurogane's apartment; she had no need for "graphic" details floating amongst her co-workers. And God knows how fast gossip spreads within school staffs..._

'_Okay, Tomoyo,' she thought. 'No worries. Nothing happened. Just a harmless sleepover between friends and a stray puppy. That's it. Just a fun party with popcorn, chick flicks, and– oh kami-sama... This does _not_ look good... Way to be, Tomoyo, way to be.'_

_Mustering up her courage, Tomoyo again craned her neck around to look at Kurogane. Sarcastically thinking she'd never again see that peaceful face, Tomoyo took a deep breath._

"_Kuro-chan," she whispered in her quietest voice._ _And a split second later–_

"_Eeeeeeyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Tomoyo screamed; Kurogane's blood red eyes had snapped open so suddenly that Tomoyo went into shock. She made to leap up but being held captive, she only managed to make the poor black puppy jump into the air and tumble onto the floor._

"_What the hell are you doing here?" Kurogane asked in his usual bored voice, not expressing any surprise to find his fellow teacher sleeping next to him._

"_What _I'm _doing here! Will you look at what you're doing!" screeched Tomoyo. She was suddenly feeling very lightheaded._

"_Huh?" Kurogane gave his signature 'what the hell are you talking about/what the hell is wrong with you' look._

"_Will you let go of me?" Tomoyo gasped, trying to keep her cool. It was rare that she would spaz out but having freaky eyes pop out of no where was almost tooooo scary._

_Kurogane lifted his head slightly, surveying the situation that he was in, blinked once, then twice, and when it finally seemed to register_, _he leapt up, sending Tomoyo crashing onto the carpeted floor, which was harder then she had expected. What she _did_ expect was a slight bruise on her bum..._

"_What the hell are you doing!" Kurogane roared._

'_So much for that freakish calm...' Tomoyo managed to think sarcastically. "I didn't do anything," she said as cooly as she could. "I just... fell asleep."_

_Kurogane glared down at Tomoyo as she stared right back up at him. (Tomoyo was doing an excellent job at keeping her cool, she thought. Because on the inside, her heart was still beating as if it were on a sugar rush– she still couldn't get over Kurogane's instant eye opening and how his intense his gaze was right when he woke up.)_

_Still glaring at Tomoyo, Kurogane tried to retrace all that had happened. ('Just how the hell did this happen!') It was yesterday afternoon and he had finally shaken off Fai after their "daily walk" and was headed home. Then came the sudden downpour. Kurogane had ducked under an overhang where he was somehow coerced into buying a ridiculously small umbrella (with a ducky as a handle, no less) from some tiny grade school brat who– just _how_ did that kid convince him to buy that stupid thing?_

_Anyways, Kurogane used the umbrella, despite his manly pride. He also got over the weird stares he got from people– they were all getting wet, those suckers, so at least he had something to cover his head. Getting close to his apartment, he saw that ridiculous new home ec teacher that Fai wouldn't shut up about, crouched at the entrance of an alley, drenched from head to toe in running gear, coaxing a puppy._

_Then for some ungodly reason, Kurogane found himself holding the umbrella over the young woman's head, making the job of abducting the poor, unknowing puppy a hell of load easier for her. After a couple seconds, Tomoyo had looked up him, staring at him with (what he thought were) the most clueless look ever. But her eyes, that brilliant shade of purple, glistened, and it didn't help very much that drops of rain lingered on her eyelashes, contributing to the brilliance of it all. And not to mention wisps of her dark hair plastered to her face pretty much wrapped up the whole clueless-with-a-hint-of-charm look._

"_Kuro-chan..." she had said._

_That definitely was a vein-popper for Kurogane. He was already killing himself inside for even holding a fluorescent yellow ducky umbrella ten times to small, let alone holding it over the almost female version of Fai. Kurogane knew he was going to die if he kept this up._

_After finally gaining the animal's trust, Tomoyo spent a few sentimental seconds cuddling the dirty thing, wasting a few seconds of Kurogane's life and those few seconds more weren't going to help with him getting drenched and all that._

_But it was that moment, where she laughed, so delighted when that puppy butted his head into her knee. The way she threw her head back and laughed, not caring that she was drenched or the possibility that she'd be suffering a major cold in the next few minutes. The way she laughed–_

_And dear God now she was sitting on Kurogane's floor, looking like an overgrown, rumpled kid, wearing his huge red 'Tsubasa Academy Gym Department' tee-shirt and his black pajama pants. ('Just how the hell is she keeping those up, by the way?')_

_Tomoyo's expression, undeterred by Kurogane's silent glare, started to fiddle with the drawstring of her pants. When dressing herself, Tomoyo had to practically pull out all the string in order to make it fit around her petite waist and after tying it, the extra string nearly hung to the floor._

"_Umm... so..." The silence was so loud that Tomoyo felt it was nearly unbearable. "Should we get some breakfast?" Tomoyo shot Kurogane her cutest and most charming smile._

_Kurogane still stared at her for a split second. When that split second was up, he threw up his arms, groaned loudly of exasperation, and stalked to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him, muttering to himself what sounded like, "Stupid women..."_

_And the rest was pretty much history._

– – –

"And there you have it." Tomoyo shrugged.

"Oh?" Fai looked mildly surprised. "That's it?" A hint of disappointment flashed in Fai's eyes.

Tomoyo noticed and laughed. "You were hoping for something scandalous, weren't you?"

"Well, anything concerning Kurogane and a social life _is_ scandalous," Fai said pointedly.

Tomoyo laughed again and the little puppy barked with delight.

"What the hell is all this noise?" Kurogane was scowling up at the giggling couple and barking animal from the track below. Beside him, Syaoran was wiping his face with a towel.

"Heeeeey, Kuro-woof!" Fai cried happily, his arm shooting into the air, waving furiously. "Hello, Syaoran-kun!"

Giving a small smile, Syaoran nodded. "Fai-sensei."

Fai bounded down the stairs with so much omph that the three other people were surprised he didn't trip and fall flat on his face. (Kurogane secretly wished for something of the like but he knew it was impossible; Fai had impeccable balance.) Tomoyo followed, clutching the puppy to her chest whilst holding a small pink take-out box.

"Was your workout fun, Syaoran-kun?" Fai asked, leaning over the railing, yet again in danger of falling forward. "Was Kuro-sama too hard on you? Was he being mean?"

"Not at all, Fai-sensei," Syaoran answered, still smiling. He draped the towel around his neck. "Kurogane-sensei knows how tough he needs to be on me."

It wasn't noticeable but Tomoyo could see the look of approval that flashed in Kurogane's eyes. But it was only for a split second– his facial expression never changed.

"Excellent, excellent," Fai said, nodding his head happily. And with a swift leap, he swung himself over the railing, landing lightly next to Syaoran. "Now, Syaoran-kun, you should come along with me! I wanted to go over one of your papers– it was written so well!"

As Fai lead Syaoran away, still chatted animatedly, Kurogane shouldered his bamboo pole and was about to follow the two when Tomoyo called out, "Kuro-chan! Wait up!" She hurried down the short flight of stairs, her long hair flying with every step.

"What do you want?" Kurogane asked gruffly.

"I have something for you!" Tomoyo stopped in front of Kurogane, looking up at him with a smile, her cheeks pink from the chill. She held out the take-out box.

Kurogane stared at it. Tomoyo faintly got the idea that Kurogane had x-ray vision, he was looking at the box so hard. As if suddenly seeing what was inside, Kurogane brushed past Tomoyo. "No thanks," he said, without even giving Tomoyo a second glance.

"Kuro-chan!" Tomoyo cried. "Don't be like that!" She quickened her pace to catch up with Kurogane. "Besides, I wanted you to help me think of a name for our puppy!"

Kurogane stopped in his tracks. Turning his head to look at Tomoyo, she could see that his eye was slightly twitching. "'_Our_ puppy'?" he repeated.

"Umm, yeah. I mean, we found him together, didn't we?" Again, Tomoyo smiled up at Kurogane. This time her smile was accompanied by a sharp, cheerful bark.

Rolling his eyes, Kurogane again continued his stride.

"Alright, Kuro-chan, be that way," Tomoyo huffed. Catching up to her companion, she linked an arm through his and dragged him over to a bench. (And this, took considerable effort for this guy was _not_ one to easily budge.)

"Hey! What're you doing!" Kurogane protested but his struggle was futile for Tomoyo was determined. And when Tomoyo was determined, nothing could stop her. (Maybe except for a nice, warm cup of hot cocoa but that's another story.)

"Sit," Tomoyo commanded as she plopped down on the cold metal bench. She set the puppy in Kurogane's lap ("What the hell! Get it off me!") and opened the pink take-out box. From her pocket she produced a fork.

Plucking the puppy off his lap and dropping it onto the floor, Kurogane was about to snap at Tomoyo when he found a fork loaded with some cream puff concoction held up by his mouth.

"I don't eat sweets," he said coldly.

"Too bad!" Tomoyo replied cheerfully, and deftly inserted the fork into Kurogane's mouth and pulled it out, nothing left on it except for some chocolate syrup.

"What are you _doing_!" Kurogane roared. He had jumped up and was now practically flapping his arms up and down like a mad man.

"Good?" Tomoyo asked, her face now the essence of pure innocence.

"It's disgusting!" Kurogane spat. And with that, he grabbed his pole, and stalked away.

Left with a blank stare, Tomoyo finally blinked as she saw Kurogane's retreating back. She blinked again and looked down at the little puppy sprawled on the floor. His tail thumped on the pavement; Tomoyo smiled.

"Y'know, I think he kind of liked it..." she said to herself with a slightly smug smile.

The puppy barked and wagged his tail.

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wow! My longest chapter for cream puff, _yet_! Kinda exciting... but totally necessary since I've been slacking... sorries again. It dint really end the way I had exactly planned but it turned out fine in the end. So I'm pretty happy. And I hope you were too! If not, of course, please leave some comments and ideas for improvement! And if you liked it, of course, please leave me some happy things for me to read so I can be happy! Yaaay! Thanks again for waiting and I'll try to update again soooooon! Byeee! )**see that review button! click it!**


	7. Identity Graduation

i'm not quite sure how this happened but i'm back! i'm so sorry that my hiatus was unannounced... but you know how it goes. life happens, school [gag happens, massive writer's blocks happen and stay there... **anyways, much thanks for those who continued to read and review! you guys are fantabulous!**

this chapter went through heavy revision a couple times... i was being _really_ picky about tiny details here and there —cringes— hope you guys aren't mad... okay so after all this time, i hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!

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CHAPTER SEVEN: Identity Graduation

"Tooomoyooo..." Souma put a hand on her hip. "Is this necessary?"

Waving her hand impatiently as if to shoo away her friend, Tomoyo deftly pulled out another tray of freshly baked cream puff shells from the comforting warmth of the stone oven.

"Tomoyo," Souma almost whined. "You've already made over ten dozen of these cream puffs. Please stop." Souma also waved her hand, gesturing to the rows of cream puffs surrounding Tomoyo on the tables.

"Just post a sign on the door," Tomoyo replied, now concentrating on fluffing different flavored fillings, expertly mixing with a pink rubber spatula. "We'll have a special. One dollar per."

"That's not the point." Souma abandoned her post from the door and walked through the kitchen. "You've been at this for the last three hours. And don't tell me you're doing this to increase profits."

No reply.

Tomoyo now was slicing mango pieces to blend into the cream. _Pur__é__e or just blend? _Tomoyo reached for another mango. _Right, I'll do both._

Exasperated, Souma strode towards and caught Tomoyo's hand before she could dump the mango cubes into another cream filled bowl. With a sigh, Souma gave her friend a curious smile. "What are you doing?"

Looking almost surprised as if only now noticing her friend's presence, Tomoyo replied. "I... I think I have a baking high."

Throwing her head back and laughing, Souma dropped Tomoyo's hand. "Clearly. But why cream puffs again?"

Tomoyo shrugged as she dropped the other half of mango cubes into a retro-looking, sea foam green blender. "It's always the same. I don't like them. They don't taste right to me."

Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, Souma turned around and made to exit without replying. She knew very well of Tomoyo's obsession with perfecting her already perfect cream puffs. Souma was one of the many that felt that Tomoyo's cream puffs were fine as is, but after years of friendship, Souma just overlooked it. _Best just to let her go it at,_ she thought. Souma knew that it didn't help Tomoyo that her mother, who loved to push publicity on her, reassured her one too many times in an overbearing manner that her cream puffs were beyond perfection. Souma wondered if it was because of this that Tomoyo felt the need to contradict her mother.

Souma chuckled and left the kitchen in search of paper and markers to make their dollar special sign.

-- -- --

The constant jingle of the bells on the door didn't distract Tomoyo from filling her cream puffs with numerous different flavored creams, baking more puff shells, mixing glaze, dragging more flour from the store room, drawing designs in glaze on the shells, sampling her pastries, jamming to music, chopping more fruits, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

From time to time, Souma would peak into the back, checking on Tomoyo, every now and then putting in a phrase or two. "Tomoyo, we're running out of muffins. How about making some of those? No? Fine, be that way." And sometimes there was, "Tomoyo, a customer wants to know if we have cream puff specials often. When d'you think your cream puff baking addiction will be over?" Not excluding, "Tomoyo, a kid puked in dressing room three. Can you take care if it?" And there was also, "Tomoyo, you've got a visitor."

"Huh?" Tomoyo looked up from artfully drizzling chocolate glaze over some finished puffs; Jackson Pollock would have been proud.

Souma, who was standing at the kitchen entrance, gestured behind her and a tall figure appeared.

"Kurogane?" Tomoyo nearly dropped her spoon in surprise.

Said person stepped into the kitchen, looking around him. Though his bored face didn't show it, Tomoyo could tell he didn't like his surroundings— the smell of sugar lingered everywhere.

_Did he come to visit me... On his own will..? _Tomoyo hid a smile and wiped her hands on a towel. "Where is Fai?"

"Why is it that everywhere I go, people wonder where that idiot is?" Kurogane inquired, looking thoroughly annoyed.

Tomoyo took this reply as a confirmation: Kurogane had come on his own and Fai didn't know of his whereabouts. She tried very hard not to feel too pleased. With a smile, Tomoyo pulled out two stools, gesturing that Kurogane should take a seat.

"What brings you here, Kuro-chan?" she asked, taking a seat.

Looking like he was straining very hard from an outburst at the pet name, Kurogane mumbled something that seemed _deliberately_ incomprehensible and plopped heavily down on the offered stool, folding his arms in the process.

Tomoyo waited for a clear answer. (She innocently thought that he was in the middle of a cough.) Except it never came. The two just sat looking at each other, Tomoyo still wearing a smile (though a little confused) and Kurogane, just looking bored.

"Umm..." Tomoyo started hesitantly, "would you like something to... um... drink?"

"No," was the curt reply. A second later, Kurogane added, "Thank you." A polite afterthought.

"Soo... what are you up to in this part of town?" Tomoyo tried again.

Tomoyo watched with thorough amusement as Kurogane's face almost twisted into a look that made him look like he was in pain; Tomoyo could practically see the war that was going on in her co-worker's head. He squirmed uncomfortably in his too small seat. "I... I was... I was just passing by."

Smothering a giggle, Tomoyo couldn't help but want to poke fun. (Literally poke, too!) But for Kurogane's sanity, she decided against it. "I see. Did you drop by for a chat?" she asked seriously without a hint of teasing.

"No." And with this, Kurogane stood, screeching back his stool. "I'm leaving."

Tomoyo's arm shot out, grabbing Kurogane. "But you just got here!" She could barely stand it; Kurogane's half confused, half annoyed, and another half of discomforted face amused her too much. If she guessed correctly, Kurogane had come in to say hello, though he was a bit disgruntled at doing so. And he was probably a little unsure of why he did. "You couldn't leave me here all alone to take care of these pastries, could you? I'm a lady in distress!"

"I hate sweets," Kurogane replied promptly. He turned to leave, desperately wondering why he had stopped in the first place, but was stuck. God, the woman had the inhumanly strength of that idiot Fai. How was it that they could drag around a guy of his size? "Listen, you–"

"I'm glad you stopped by, Kurogane." Tomoyo smiled with a graceful tilt of her chin.

Kurogane blinked.

The jingling of the bells on the door filled their moment of silence.

Finally, with a look of annoyance, Kurogane plopped back on his stool, sulky pout playing with his lips. Smug, Tomoyo let go of Kurogane and clapped her hands together. "Now! Seeing as you're here... Taste!" The pastry chef grabbed a cream puff and shoved it in Kurogane's face.

"Wha– No!" Kurogane jumped up again and was making a break for the door when Tomoyo grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. "Noo!!"

Souma glanced over her shoulder, an exasperated smile across her face, though her eyebrow was twitching quite violently. She turned back to her customer, gesturing towards the kitchen. Sounds of shouting ("Stay away! No, dammit, I said I hate sweets! Stay away, woman!") and clanging metal rang through the air. "Please do ignore that. Our tasting panel, ah, is just so very enthusiastic about trying our chef's new pastries. Would you like this for here or to go?"

-- -- --

"Hellooooo!" Fai cried, his arm in a salute to wave. "Tomo– Aaah."

Indeed a very interesting sight met Fai's smiling eyes. Half of the pots that were hanging from the ceiling racks were scattered across the counters and floor. The telephone that clearly used to hang on the wall was lying on the floor, half buried under a mound of flour. Among the mess galore, rows and rows of plain and decorated cream puffs lined the counters.

Oh, not to mention, Tomoyo practically sitting on Kurogane, pinning him to the floor.

Half of Kurogane's back was pressed against a huge sack of overflowing flour, a good bit of that flour staining his black Tsubasa Academy Gym Department track jacket. What looked like cream was smeared along the side of his cheek. Tomoyo was sitting on Kurogane in a probably not very appropriate position that was best saved for behind closed doors, a fork that was chock full of cream puff goodness, hovering by her captive's mouth. The ends of her long hair were wild with flour and she also had a smudge of cream at the side of her forehead, dangerously close to her hair. Her free hand was pressed against Kurogane's shoulder, clearly a good effort of keeping him in his spot.

Both were frozen, staring at Fai with wide and horrified eyes, like children caught in a delinquent act.

"So," Fai finally said, face still all smiles, "looks like I missed some good fun."

The pair didn't move. Except the contents on Tomoyo's fork plopped off, successfully landing on Kurogane's jacket in a picture perfect moment.

"Soo... I came by to let you know..." Fai's voice trailed off to fill the silence as he took an exaggerated step into the kitchen, stepping over a large metal bowl on the floor. "Tomoyo-chan, there was an article about you in the newspaper today. Oh and you're on the cover of that gourmet cooking magazine that I saw in the bookstore. And apparently there's going to be a special on TV tonight—"

"Auuuugh," Tomoyo groaned as she got off Kurogane, dusting flour off herself, not taking a second glance at her kitchen or let alone Kurogane.

She grumbled something inaudible, her lips forming around what looked like the word 'mother' along with a string of other choice words.

"I never knew you were famous, Tomoyo-chan," Fai continued cheerfully, now occupying Kurogane's stool. Tomoyo wordlessly pushed a cream puff at him, that which Fai proceeded to eat without taking his eyes off of the world renown pastry chef. "It's going to stir up the local news, y'know."

"I deliberately made sure no one knew..." Tomoyo mumbled as she fumbled with her hair. She took a seat on the stool she had occupied before wrecking her kitchen and sighed. "I thought I got lucky when the local reviews didn't reveal anything."

Fai tapped the tip of his fork to his chin. "Well, you shouldn't worry too much. This town is pretty small."

Tomoyo groaned again and helped herself to one of her peach cream puffs. ("And the faster news will travel..." she mumbled.)

Okay, why was it that everyone suddenly forgot Kurogane? Feeling annoyed and unhappy that his jacket was powdered with flour and cream puff grossness, Kurogane got up from the floor, muttering obscenities that mainly focused around Tomoyo's unhealthy obsession with her tasting test subjects.

"On another note," Fai continued in his casual air, "what are you doing here, Kuro-sama?"

Kurogane, who was busy trying to make a silent escape, froze in place. Two pair of keen eyes were now zoomed in on him, each eagerly awaiting an answer.

"... I... I was..." Kurogane mumbled, again his face contorted in confused frustration, pointedly not meeting the amethyst pair of eyes. "There was a sign on the door that said there was a special," he said with a tone of finality.

And he realized his mistake as the two pair of eyes sparkled forebodingly.

Fai was the first to start laughing while Tomoyo hid her lips behind her hand and laughed what sounded suspiciously like, "Oh ho ho ho!"

"Stop lying, Kuro-sama," Fai gasped in between laughs. "You wouldn't eat a cream puff if it were free."

Thank you for stating the obvious, good sir.

"I was here to visit the dog," Kurogane corrected himself lamely, though the damage was done. (His corrected statement was entirely untrue. In an split second afterthought, Kurogane prayed that neither Tomoyo or Fai would mention that the puppy would obviously be residing in Tomoyo's apartment, not in the kitchen of horrors.)

Tomoyo stood up with a clap, her eyes bright and a smile back on her face. "We still have to name him!" she exclaimed.

Oh, _God_, all Kurogane wanted to do now was to _leave_. Was it too much to ask? What exactly was trapping him in this hell? And why the hell _couldn't_ he leave, aside from the fact that Fai and Tomoyo both had inhuman strength, enough to match his own.

Without complaining or rolling his eyes, Kurogane sighed.

It would be un-gentlemanly to deny such a smiling face...

Oh, but honestly, when did Kurogane ever worry about being "gentlemanly?"

"Yeah, whatever you want," Kurogane mumbled through a slight pout, almost inaudibly. His arms were folded and he looked off to the side, to avoid looking directly at Tomoyo or Fai.

"Hmm..." Tomoyo tapped her chin thoughtfully. Suddenly her face lit up again, eyes bright. "I know! We'll name him Kuro-chan!"

This sent Fai into another wave of laughter as he helped himself to another cream puff, this time a berry medley that was decorated with mini chocolate swirls. Kurogane was giving Tomoyo a cynical look and only had a moment of surprise to find that Tomoyo was standing in front of him. The surprise furthered as his eyes almost widened when she leaned forward to tap his nose.

"You've graduated back to Kurogane, Kuro-chan, congrats," Tomoyo said in a voice that was borderline teasing. (Since when did Kurogane have to "graduate" back to his own name? It was only those two idiots who enjoyed antagonizing him with pet names...)

Fai was going on in the background, something about how the newly named puppy was the canine incarnation of Kurogane. ("All that spiky fur!")

"D'you want to share him on the weekends, Kurogane?" Tomoyo asked, looking entirely serious and eager. "It's only fair that Kuro-chan sees both his owners equally."

Without bothering to correct Tomoyo that he technically wasn't an owner of any dog, he realized something: This was the first time Kurogane fully listened to the way Tomoyo said his name. Or the way she said anything.

Her voice sang.

It was musical, in the way she talked. It was strange, but beautiful.

And it was incredibly comforting.

"Well?" came that very same musical voice, interrupting Kurogane's thoughts.

Landing back on Earth, Kurogane found a delicate porcelain face staring up at him expectantly with a light smile.

Sighing again, but not from exasperation, Kurogane managed to roll his eyes, just for show.

"Yeah, whatever."

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

PURE fluff... aiii... do i deserve to be shot?!

thoughts, suggestions, cookies... all are appreciated!

**i'm thinking i would like to restate something i said in the very beginning-- i plunged into this fic with only the beginning and end planned out. it was pretty ideal in my head, but i realized that i was missing the middle. it's becoming more clear now and now that it has, i'm pleased, in a way, to say that this fic will be coming to a close soon. i won't comment on it anymore lest i give something away... but it's quite bittersweet for me. though i can't help but wait!**


	8. Chick Flick, Kurogane Style

before I apologize profusely...

QUESTION! Have I uploaded this chapter before? because I swear I did... if I did, please let me know!! if not... enjoy!

and heeere we go. apologies for the incredibly late update! school hates me. let's leave it at that. shall we?

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT: Chick Flick, Kurogane Style

_Brmmm..._

The sound of a cellphone vibrating on a nightstand is truly an annoying sound.

_Brmmm..._

Face still planted down in his pillow, Kurogane's broad arm, fumbling, found it's way out of the sheets and groped about, trying to found his nightstand and to chuck his cellphone across the room.

_Brmmm..._

"Auuuuuughhh," came Kurogane's muffled groan. With a strained effort, Kurogane located his cellphone and instead of flinging it across the room as he had intended, he flipped it open. "What?" he asked in his fresh, croaky, deep, morning voice, barely turning his head to make the word audible.

No response.

Opening an eye a fraction, Kurogane looked at his cellphone screen with utter annoyance, only to see the words '1 NEW TXT' burning into his eyes.

Mentally muttering obscenities after seeing the time (_Who the _**hell**_ needs to talk to me at seven in the morning?!_), Kurogane pressed the 'view' button with enough force to compact his cellphone into a junk pile of technology.

**Good morning, Kurogane!**

Groaning as he flipped onto his back, Kurogane's fingers fumbled to text back. Stupid texting. What was the point of it? Who in the world would waste a good couple minutes to _type _a conversation out when you could be having one _actually _talking and save more than mere minutes?

**who the 4hell is this ?**

Not only did Kurogane despise texting, he clearly sucked at it, too.

In a split second the response came in the form of '1 NEW TXT.'

**Tomoyo ^_^**

What the hell was that at the end? Kurogane scrutinized the symbols more than taking in who exactly was texting him. Oh, it was supposed to be a smiley face. Or something. What a second... Had he ever exchanged numbers with Tomoyo? Of course he hadn't. Because he could tell Tomoyo was a texting type of girl and there was no way Kurogane needed that, especially not at seven in the morning.

**What dyouu want. and how di2 you get my number?**

And clearly, Kurogane was a master at being rude through technology, too.

Again, in a split second, another text arrived with another burst of three vibrates.

**Fai gave it to me. Are you busy right now?**

_Hardly, _Kurogane thought sarcastically. _I was _only_ sleeping..._ (Kurogane also made a mental note to kill Fai and have his cellphone number changed.) Regardless (and oddly, without thinking) Kurogane replied:

**No. WHat do you want.**

Always the gentlemen, Kurogane.

**I was about to run some errands. Join me? ^_^**

Stupid weird smiley faces. And stupid women who wake up at seven in the morning to run errands. Weren't young people supposed to like sleeping in?

And Kurogane typed back that fateful word.

**Fine**

-- -- --

As Kurogane stepped out of the shower, he could hear faintly through the door what sounded like an announcer crying, "CHECKMATE! BLACK, WIN!" Shaking his head as he dressed and running a towel through his hair, Kurogane reminded himself that he would have to have a talk with his neighbors about the volume on their TV set.

Wait a second... Was this déjà vu?

Dropping his towel and yanking open the door, Kurogane's suspicion was confirmed: that absurdly loud voice was coming from _his_ TV.

"What are you doing?!" Kurogane roared, somewhere in the deep area of his mind already knowing what to expect.

"Good morning, Kurogane," Tomoyo replied cheerfully, waving a spatula at him from the kitchen.

Oh God, _hearing_ that phrase was even better than _seeing_ it in a text.

"What is wrong with you?! People are sleeping!" Kurogane yelled, turning the volume down and tossing the remote onto the couch.

"You're being the loudest one here," Tomoyo pointed out in the same cheerful manner, pointing the spatula in Kurogane's direction.

Ignoring her (truthful) statement, Kurogane folded his arms and glared at the woman in his kitchen. "What are you doing here? I thought you wanted to run errands or something."

"I do," Tomoyo shrugged, though her back was to Kurogane. She shook the pan a little bit. "I figured I'd come feed you since the sight of your _lovely_ refrigerator's innards have forever been seared into my memory." Tomoyo reached up to the cupboards and pulled out a plate. Turning to Kurogane, she again shrugged and smiled, sliding the pan's contents on the plate.

Ah, good smells...

Tomoyo slid the plate across the counter and looked at Kurogane expectantly. Sighing, Kurogane strode to the counter to eat whatever the hell the chef wanted to feed him.

Ah, omelette and cubed potatoes with some type of spicy seasoning... Smells good...

Kurogane ate without sitting down, still standing at the counter. He ate, disgruntled, as Tomoyo watched him, eyes still expectant.

Aside from the fact that Kurogane could pretty much report Tomoyo for breaking and entering, he was thinking he could get used to yummy food. (Kurogane wondered how easily she had found his key's new hiding place.) He also realized that Tomoyo's bright eyes were waiting for a comment.

"It's good," Kurogane mumbled indirectly as he set his empty plate on the counter. He pointedly avoided looking directly at Tomoyo's eyes.

She graced Kurogane with a pleased smile and nodded, more to herself than anyone else. "Okay. Shall we go?"

-- -- --

Eyebrow twitching violently, Kurogane glared at Tomoyo's back, ears canceling out whatever the hell she was blabbing about. "You..." he started in a low voice, close to a growl. "You..."

"Hmm?" Tomoyo stopped talking and looked back at Kurogane, as she tipped back her sunglasses. "Are you alright?"

"YOU INVITED ME SO I COULD BE YOUR FREAKING BAG BOY?!" Kurogane roared, finally snapping.

Tomoyo, completely not phased by Kurogane's outburst, merely laughed and set her sunglasses back on the bridge of her nose. She patted Kurogane's arm and continued walking.

_Damn you..._ Kurogane thought. He was shouldering an enormous sack of flour and under his other arm was a smaller bag of sugar, though with his free hand he was clutching bags of fresh fruit galore.

"A morning workout through the farmer's market is good for you," Tomoyo sang back at Kurogane when she saw her companion wasn't following. "And it's a beautiful day, don't you think?" Tomoyo gestured widely with her arm and twirled in the bright sunlight. She giggled to herself and stood facing Kurogane. This time she took off her sunglasses and smiled. "Don't be so sour, Kurogane. You know you want to be here."

_Like hell I do!_

"That's her!" came a shout.

Both Kurogane and Tomoyo whipped their heads to the side to see a young man from across the street pointing in their direction.

"Shoot!" Tomoyo muttered. Kurogane focused his attention back at his companion, feeling a little confused at the situation.

"Oh, that's _her_!" exclaimed another voice, this time coming from an elderly woman who one second ago was busy arguing with the fish stall's fisherman.

Tomoyo bit her lip and before Kurogane knew it, he was being dragged through the market and he was trying his best to avoid barreling people over.

"Wha—?!" Kurogane started.

"Just run!" Tomoyo shouted.

As the two ran, or as Tomoyo dragged Kurogane behind her as he tried not to whack innocent civilians with the sack of flour or bags of fruits, Kurogane could her snips of conversation that seemed to be getting louder and louder.

"It's that famous baker person!"

"Hey, isn't that that pastry chef that was in the news yesterday?"

"Oh em _gee_, it's Tomoyo that used to work at Mokona's!" (This particular cry came with a ridiculously high-pitched voice.)

"I can't believe we have celebrity in town!"

Wow, was this really happening? Because Kurogane swore that they were being followed by a camera crew and he was pretty sure this sort of madness only happened in movies.

"In here!" Tomoyo cried and Kurogane's body all but flew forward into a moldy looking cupboard.

"Wha—?!" Kurogane wildly tried to find balance in this new shady environment, eyes not adjusting to the dark as quickly as he liked. And he was thinking that he probably just dropped the sack of sugar a good ten feet back.

"Shhh!" Tomoyo hissed as there was the sound of a slamming door and _everything_ turned dark.

Oh, God. Kurogane really didn't want to think it, but he was sure he just found himself in a B-movie chick flick. Was he _really_ stuck in a closet with a member of the opposite sex?

Kurogane tried to turn around as he found his foot in a bucket with wheels.

Yep, it was a bad chick flick in the making.

"Will you quit moving around?!" Tomoyo hissed as Kurogane nearly fell backward and banged his head on a shifty shelf. Tomoyo's voice sounded hassled yet very amused at the same time. It seemed like she was fighting really hard from giggling.

"Will _you_ explain to me what the hell you're doing?" Kurogane hissed back, still not seeing anything, but pretty much crashing into everything in the closet. He had lost track of the flour and was somehow holding in his hand a single apple.

Cramped closets may be Tomoyo's favorite thing at seven-thirty in the morning, but they sure as hell are not for Kurogane.

"Where the hell is the door?" Kurogane grumbled, his hand groping in the darkness.

"Augh, Kurogane, please stop moving," Tomoyo pleaded from the darkness. "We should— whoa—"

Kurogane was thinking that his hand was _not_ tangled in the strings of the dirty mop, as much as he hoped. Because dirty mops don't have that silky smooth texture that Tomoyo's hair has. Wait, what?

There was a moment of silence and Kurogane could practically feel the temperature in the pathetic little closet go up. "Um..." Tomoyo mumbled.

Tomoyo's voice was suddenly _very_ close. Too close.

"Yeah, sorry," Kurogane mumbled back as he tried to shift around and withdraw his hand from the waves of Tomoyo's hair.

"Ow," Tomoyo whispered as Kurogane unintentionally yanked on her hair.

Surprised, Kurogane repeated a stumbled apology and tried taking a step back. And of course, forgetting he was all but hunched up in a closet that was made for people shorter than him. From Tomoyo came a sound of protest as Kurogane yanked on her hair harder and lo and behold, in some mysterious act of God, Kurogane managed to trip backwards taking his lovely female companion with him. (And as a perfect day would go, Kurogane's head came in contact with every shelf on the way down.)

"Ooomph!"

Kurogane didn't need to have the power of vision to know that this was wrong on so many levels.

Strike one: Half laying, half sitting on the floor of a minuscule, potentially germ infested cabinet that had been randomly, _conveniently_ open for occupation. (Granted it belonged to the café right around the corner, but who the hell left the door wide open?!)

Strike two: Half laying, half sitting on the floor of a minuscule cabinet with a woman, who is apparently running away from the media and is half laying, nay, _fully_ laying on you.

Strike three: This woman who is a fugitive running from the media and fully laying on you in a minuscule, very warm cabinet is Tomoyo, never mind the whole co-worker fact. Oh, and the back of your head is throbbing.

Kurogane remembered how much he hated life.

"I'm _really_ sorry about this," Tomoyo whispered, wincing but not from the pain in her head.

It was barely eight o'clock and with every second Kurogane's day was getting increasingly better. Obviously.

"Next time you want to stir up the press, leave me out of it," Kurogane mumbled, feeling irritation seeping into him at an incredibly high-pace. He was surprised to hear a giggle in response.

"I would never torture you that way, Kurogane."

_Yes, you would._

"D'you think it's safe to come out?" Tomoyo continued, her voice a little worried. Her breath tickled the bottom of Kurogane's chin._ Too_ close for comfort.

Kurogane tried to clear his throat discreetly. "It's hot in here..." he managed to mumble, also managing to feel like an idiot.

"Hmm? I think it's kind of cool, actually," Tomoyo countered honestly, a hint of curiosity in her voice. "It's only sixty-some degrees outside. The weather forecast said it would be sunny, but— Kurogane? Are you alright?"

There wasn't a reply because Kurogane couldn't help thinking that he was burning in his own personal hell. And the back of his head was _really_ starting to hurt. When things couldn't have possibly gotten worse, Kurogane felt a cool hand on his forehead.

"You're burning up!" Tomoyo exclaimed. "Are you sick?!"

In a great desperate act in the midst of his lightheaded feeling, Kurogane drew up reserve energy to groan in frustration and literally drag himself to a standing position, taking the shocked Tomoyo with him. And this was with occupied hands, with nothing to grab onto to support his trip up.

"We are leaving. Now," Kurogane commanded in a forced voice, staring over Tomoyo's head at the moldy closet wall. He had also promptly dropped Tomoyo's hand when both were standing.

Tomoyo, still in slight shock from Kurogane's burst of energy, was staring at him (or more precisely, his chin). The events of the morning replaying in Tomoyo's head made her burst into a shower of giggles.

"What's your problem?" Kurogane demanded, shifting his gaze down to Tomoyo. Her peals of laughter was making the closet seem all warm again.

"You, Kurogane!" Tomoyo gasped in between laughs. Her giggles were slow to subside but once they did, the pastry chef was smiling wide, her eyes shining with delight in the dull light. "Trying to be all manly!" Tomoyo's pealing laughter prevented her from reenacting Kurogane's deep monotone, which she was tempted to do with her arms on her hips for extra exaggeration.

"_Trying_ to be _manly_?" Kurogane repeated with near disbelief. He was _trying_?

When Tomoyo did not elaborate on her peculiar claim, Kurogane couldn't believe he let a woman doubt his manhood for a single second. Thus resulting in an eye twitch. Now it seemed that Tomoyo was musing to herself and after a few seconds, she touched a finger to her chin and did that infuriating tilt-of-head thing she did.

"Y'know, Kurogane, you remind me of a cream puff."

_What the_—_?!_

"On the outside, you seem all tough but once you bite through the very top layer, you're kind of soft and chewy and then in the very inner core, light and fluffy and mildly sweet, in a good way of course, on the very inside," Tomoyo explained, though barely half way through her description, she seemed to forget Kurogane's likeness to a cream puff and was indeed describing an actual cream puff. Her eyes had slid into that girlish day dream look as she described the delicate details of "Kurogane."

"Light and fluffy?" Kurogane repeated in mild disbelief. Was this woman really as insane as he thought she was?

"It's so simple!" Tomoyo exclaimed suddenly. "It makes sense!" Eyes shining, she bounced onto the balls of her feet. "Thank you so much, Kurogane!" And she playfully tugged on Kurogane's ear and promptly crashed through the closet door and ran off.

As if nothing that morning made no sense, this last bit had to take the cake. Fresh air filling the closet and Kurogane's lungs, he stared after Tomoyo as she ran away, her hair somehow through all the madness, Kurogane was still holding that single apple.

Without even a sigh, as if he were already used to the madness that seemed to appear when around Tomoyo, Kurogane made his way home while munching on the crisp Fuji apple, every now and then unconsciously touching a hand to the ear Tomoyo tugged.

* * *

tell me how i did, pleeease! hugs to all for being patient and for reading!


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